Many of the conditions that made 2005 such a difficult economic year prevailed in 2006: the continued misery in Iraq, the threat of global terrorism and the world's leading economy undermined by widening trade and current account deficits.

The oil price as well, though it was slightly below its 2005 peaks, was trading high enough to push up the import bills of most developed nations.

While there were mitigating circumstances - a slight economic recovery in Germany and Japan as well as China's double digit growth - these are not conditions that, on their own, would make for significant increases in corporate profits.

But, once again, the world's largest companies managed to avoid the bears and produce more than solid financial results.

According to Forbes magazine's 2006 rankings of the largest 2 000 global corporations, their combined profits were up by 28% to US$2,2 trillion last year on the back of an even better 32% rise in 2005.

Sales were up 10% to $27 trillion while their market capitalisation improved by 16% to a staggering $36 trillion.

The companies, which are based in 57 countries, have assets in excess of $100 trillion and employ 70m staff worldwide.

Being large clearly does not necessarily mean being slow-footed - the Forbes 2 000 companies know how to ride economic volatility - spreading their geographic reach and counterbalancing difficult conditions in one part of the world with more prosperous operations in other countries.

Most are also well managed and continue to grow through expansion, both organically and by acquisition, in addition to simply doing things more efficiently and productively.

SA companies listed on the JSE continued to make their presence felt, though their numbers among the global elite were slightly down from 26 to 24, as Sappi and Tiger Brands fell off the list. Of the 24, 17 have a primary JSE listing with Standard Bank the highest SA-only ranked group at 316th. Arcelor Mittal is the highest-ranked SA-linked company at 72nd, followed by BHP Billiton at 97th and Anglo American at 119th.

The commodities boom has clearly been a boon to companies with a strong local presence, but the steady performance of SA groups on the world stage is also a reflection of five years of a steady rand.

And after almost 15 years out of the political wilderness, SA companies are finally adapting to the rigours and opportunities of the global marketplace.