They were POSCO, Samsung Electronics, LG Electronics and Shinhan Financial Group, the magazine, Corporate Knights, said on Wednesday (local time).
Steelmaker POSCO found itself in 36th place in its Global 100 Class debut.
Samsung moved down 11 notches to 45th place, while Shinhan nosedived from 30th to 70th.
LG jumped 31 notches to 51st.
Topping the list was Biogen, a Massachusetts-based biotechnology firm, that finished second last year. Fellow American pharmaceutical company Allergan ranked second, followed by German sportswear company Adidas, Singaporean real estate corporation Keppel Land and Finnish retailing conglomerate Kesko.
The United States had 20 companies on the list, its best showing in the 11-year history of the Global 100; Canada and France 12 each; the United Kingdom 11; and Finland and Germany five each.
"The impressive economic performance of the American economy in the face of global headwinds likely played a factor here," the magazine said.
China and Japan had only one company, each. Lenovo Group and pharmaceutical company Eisai came in 73rd and 50th, respectively.
"China’s continued weak showing in the Global 100 could be seen as evidence of complacency regarding corporate sustainability, but separate research conducted by CK Capital suggests that Chinese disclosure practices are improving dramatically," the magazine said.
reporter
Park Sae-jin
swatchsjp@ajunews.com
