Sector pages

The Mirador website is organized around twenty industry sectors. Each company is linked to a specific sector. In addition to the company directory, users will find specific financial information for each industry sector.

 Company pages

Each page dedicated to a company is structured as follows :

• An Identity card
  This section provides users with an initial overview of the company.
• The Accounts observatory
  The accounts presented here are the multinational’s consolidated financial statements. In other words, these are the figures for the entire group, as it defines itself. They do not represent the data of the Belgian or European subsidiary. This is therefore the most important information and least prone to manipulation. The profit reported includes that of all divisions worldwide—those in Belgium, the United States, Switzerland, the Bahamas, and so on. This information provides a general picture of the company’s overall situation.
  When the information is available, we provide a set of indicators. These make up a financial statement and are divided into three types : fundamental indicators, optional indicators, and ratios.
  • Fundamental indicators
    As part of the Mirador project, we propose a series of indicators.
    • Revenue Revenue Total sales amount of a company from transactions primarily related to its core business activities (therefore excluding real estate and financial sales for companies that do not traditionally operate in those markets).
      (in French : Chiffre d’affaires)  : the company’s total sales for a year.
    • Research : This indicator tracks all expenses incurred by the company to fund its research. This figure includes, for example, researchers’ salaries.
    • Staff costs : This refers to all wages paid by the company to its employees. While this is obviously very interesting information, it is generally not disclosed by American and Japanese companies.
    • Depreciation Depreciation An accounting process that involves gradually allocating the value of a fixed or movable asset with an estimated usage exceeding one year to the cost of goods produced. For example, suppose a company purchases a robot or an automated machine for two million euros. It estimates that it will have an operational lifespan of five years. It will therefore allocate 400,000 euros each year to annual depreciation. Depreciation is an accounting process : the investment has already been made ; depreciation is the recovery of that money ; it is therefore added to the cash received by the firm from its business activities (cash flow).
      (in French : ammortissement)  : An accounting process that involves gradually allocating the value of a fixed or movable asset with an estimated usage exceeding one year to the cost of goods produced. For example, suppose a company purchases a robot or an automated machine for two million euros. It estimates that it will have an operational lifespan of five years. It will therefore allocate 400,000 euros each year to annual depreciation .
    • Operating profit : This refers to the profits generated by the company from its own operations.
    • Added Value (estimate) : This represents the wealth Wealth A vague term that can refer to both assets (stock) and Gross Domestic Product (GDP), added value, or the accumulation of goods produced (flow).
      (in French : richesse) created by the company. We estimate added value by adding together wages, depreciation, and operating profit.
    • Profit before taxation : profit before taxes are paid.
    • Tax : this is corporate income tax. When the figure is negative, it means the company pays taxes on its profits. This is an estimated figure. It represents the company’s estimate of the corporate income tax it will owe. It can also be positive, which means that the government refunds the company. This may be the case if the company previously overpaid taxes or is operating at a loss.
    • Profit : This refers to the profit attributable to the company or the group. Example : When a subsidiary is 50% owned by Group A, only 50% of that subsidiary’s profits are attributed to Group A. This is also referred to as the group’s net profit.
    • Dividends : The payment made by the company to shareholders in return for their investment Investment A transaction involving the acquisition of fixed assets, financial assets, or intangible assets (such as a brand, a logo, or patents).
      (in French : investissement) .
    • Employees : The number of employees as of the last day of the year (note that this may include different types of contracts).
    • Property, plant and equipment : These are the “tangible” assets used in production—the company’s physical capital (fixed assets) : machinery, tools, buildings, land, etc.
    • Goodwill Goodwill Différence de valorisation d’un actif dans un bilan d’une entreprise entre ce qui a été officiellement acheté et ce qui est considéré comme valeur réelle par le marché. Cela concerne souvent la valorisation des biens immatériels (marque, brevet, logo…). Mais cela peut être également l’excédent du coût d’acquisition d’une firme, lors d’une prise de participation ou d’une fusion, sur ce qui représente en fait la valeur estimée de cette compagnie. En français, on utilise aussi le terme d’écart de valorisation.
      (en anglais : goodwill)
       : this refers to the company’s revaluation of a tangible or intangible asset (patent, trademark, etc.). Goodwill is one of the indicators of shareholder Shareholder A holder of at least one share or one part of capital. In effect, it is a title of ownership. A shareholder who owns a majority or a sufficient number of shares is, in fact, the true owner of the company that issues them.
      (in French : actionnaire) capitalism Capitalism An economic and social system based on the ownership of businesses, offices, and factories by capital owners, to whom employees—who lack the means of subsistence—must sell their labor force in exchange for a wage.
      (in French : capitalisme)  : ownership must be valued to attract investors.
    • Cash and cash equivalents : amounts available in current accounts or easily tradable securities (stocks).
    • Total assets : the sum of all assets utilized by the company.
    • Equity Equity The total of all funds representing what the company owns directly. This consists primarily of capital, broken down into shares (or stock) at their par value, on the one hand, and retained earnings accumulated over the years, on the other.
      (in French : fonds propres) (attributed to the group) : equity consists of the initial capital contributed by shareholders and retained earnings accumulated each year. This indicator reflects the company’s value to shareholders. It represents what belongs to the shareholders. In the event of the company’s liquidation, this is what they would receive.
    • Long-term debt (LT) : This refers to debt that is theoretically intended to finance investments.
    • Market capitalization Market capitalization A snapshot of the total market value of a company or, when all listed companies are combined, of a stock exchange. It is calculated by multiplying the number of shares issued by the stock’s price on the date of the estimate.
      (in French : Capitalisation boursière)  : This indicator represents the company’s market value. It is calculated by multiplying the number of shares by the market price per share Share A part of ownership in a company. The income from it is a dividend. For publicly traded companies, a share also has a market price that depends on the supply and demand for that share at that time and may differ from the par value at the time the share was issued.
      (in French : action) . When you subtract market capitalization from equity, you get the shareholder’s gain in the event of a sale of the company.
  • Optional indicators
    Depending on the data the company does or does not report, we also provide geographic or sector-specific indicators for certain companies.
  • Ratios
    The financial statement also includes, when data permits, seven ratios. These ratios provide a picture of the company’s socio-economic development.
    • Operating margin (%) : This indicator shows the average profit the company earns on each product sold. It is calculated by dividing operating income by revenue.
    • Profit margin (%) : This indicator helps assess the profitability of the initial investment made by the shareholder.
    • Solvency ratio (%) : This ratio indicates how the company finances its investments. It is calculated by dividing long-term debt by equity. The closer the ratio is to 100%, the more the company relies on money borrowed from banks to finance its investments. If the figure exceeds 100%... there is cause for concern, as the company’s investments depend more on bank loans than on funds directly contributed by the company.
    • Dividend rate (%) : This figure represents the portion of profits paid out to shareholders as dividends. The higher this amount, the smaller the portion of profits that remains within the company (retained earnings).
    • Wage share of added value (%) : the portion of the wealth created by the company that goes to employees. When figures are available, this ratio is calculated by dividing total wages and salaries by the added value.
    • Productivity rate or productivity level (in euros) : this is an estimate of the average market value created by each employee in the group. It is calculated by dividing the added value by the number of employees.
    • Working capital Capital Ensemble d’actifs et de richesses pouvant être utilisés pour produire de nouveaux biens ou services.
      (en anglais : capital, mais aussi fund ou wealth)
       : This is the difference between long-term liabilities and long-term assets (or, conversely, between short-term assets and short-term liabilities). If it is positive, this indicates that long-term liabilities exceed long-term assets. If it is negative, this implies the opposite, meaning that part of the long-term assets is financed by short-term debt. This can be concerning, because it means that banks must renew loans every month, every three months… They could decide to stop at any time. Normally, the goal is to have a slightly positive working capital Capital A collection of assets and wealth that can be used to produce new goods or services.
      (in French : capital)  : negative, this raises the issue of financing long-term investments ; if it is too positive, it means that liabilities—specifically, funds—are being used for short-term projects, which by definition are temporary, fleeting, and typically less profitable (generally, the long term takes precedence over the short term, except during times of crisis).
• News
  Multinational companies are constantly restructuring, offshoring, outsourcing, merging or engaged in acquisitions or partnerships. These are all business practices that have direct consequences on industrial relations, the economy of regions, countries and ecosystems. Mirador offers a track of corporate news by drawing parallels between business practices and the social struggles these practices generate.
• History
  Regardless of what self-proclaimed “chief economists” or stock Stock Sous sa forme économique, c’est l’ensemble des avoirs (moins les dettes) d’un acteur économique à un moment donné (par exemple, le 31 décembre 2007). Ce qui sort ou qui entre durant deux dates est un flux. Le stock dans son sens économique s’oppose donc au flux. Sous son interprétation comptable, le stock est l’ensemble des marchandises achetées qui n’ont pas encore été produites ou dont la fabrication n’a pas été achevée lors de la clôture du bilan ou encore qui ont été réalisées mais pas encore vendues.
  (en anglais : stock ou inventory pour la notion comptable). market columnists may think, analysing a company cannot be meaningful from a short-term perspective. Knowing a company’s origins, the names of its “parents,” or the offshoots it has spawned provides a better understanding of what it is today.

 Texts

The Texts tab gives you access to a collection of articles and reference materials on multinational corporations.

 Custom company profiles

Upon request, we can provide you with informations that we compile but do not post on the site to keep it streamlined. This covers the major items on the income statement and balance sheet, as well as a breakdown by sector and/or region for revenue, operating profit, and assets—and even employment—when such data is available.

We can also research additional information, though it should be noted, as we mentioned at the outset, that companies do not publish everything. It is, however, possible, for example, to consult the National Bank’s balance sheet database to obtain data on a Belgian company (though there will be a delay, as the financial statements are not published immediately on the National Bank’s website). Similarly, searchs for other missing data on the appropriate websites can be conducted but this may take some time.