US-listed firms sell more than ever to Africa and Asia

Wall streetAsia and Africa have increased their share of sales by US-listed companies, highlighting a shift in global growth patterns.

Asia accounted for 7.8% of sales by S&P 500 companies that provided full reporting information in 2014, according to a report by S&P Dow Jones Indices. In recent years, this figure has overtaken the proportion of sales that go to Europe, excluding the UK.

Africa accounted for a little over 4% of sales, an increase of half a percentage point compared with last year.

“Sales to Asia continue to increase, albeit at a slower rate than years past, but still remains larger than Europe,” says Howard Silverblatt, senior index analyst at S&P Dow Jones Indices.

“Sales to Africa substantially increased; however, growth of the middle-class has been slower than hoped for, and as a result, expected sales could be less than planned for and have a negative impact on future profitability.”

S&P Dow Jones Indices says less than half the companies in the S&P 500 submitted enough information to give a full breakdown of global sales.

©2015 funds global mena

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