The contrast between the performance of Latin America's two big economies - Brazil and Mexico - and much of the rest of the region has become a marked feature of recent years. The trend is clearly apparent in the Latin American listings that form part of the FT's list of the top 500 companies.

Since the Brazilian devaluation at the beginning of 1999, Mexico and Brazil have both grown relatively quickly with domestic consumption recovering after the crises of the late 1990s. Their performances contrast with the continued recession in Argentina and sluggish growth in the Andean region.

Last year, as spending picked up in both economies, Mexican and Brazilian consumer goods and retailers did well and improved their standings. In Mexico, Coca Cola Femsa, the most profitable Coca Cola bottler in the world, has been gaining market share against rivals and has entered the listings for the first time. Grupo Modelo, the Monterrey-based brewer (11) that makes the Corona brand beers, expanded turnover and profits.

Walmart de Mexico (5), the US-owned retail group, consolidated its position, expanding market share partly at the expense of Soriana (down to 67 from 41 last year). Ambev, the Brazilian brewer created by the merger of Brahma and Antartica, is the region's eighth biggest company.

In the telecommunications sector, companies from the two countries also showed up well. Telmex was again the biggest company in Latin America, and continues to grow in spite of competition, although its turnover is bound to be affected by the flotation of its cellular division, America Movil, at the end of last year. Iusacell (a new entry at number 76), the mobile operator in which Vodafone of the UK has a 34.3 per cent stake, has increased turnover, albeit in a rapidly expanding market.

A number of Brazilian telecoms operators have strengthened their positions in the listings for the first time following the privatisation and break-up of Telebras in 1999. Telemar, the Rio-based fixed line operator, is ninth, having increased its capitalisation after the restructuring of Telemar and Tele Norte Leste. No fewer than 11 other Brazilian telecoms companies figure among Latin America's top 100. Globo Cabo, a cable television and internet company, also benefited from investor enthusiasm for high-tech stocks, closing the year as the region's 29th biggest company.

Many Brazilian companies included in the list are still controlled by the state. Their number includes Petrobras, the second biggest company and Eletrobras, the electricity generator whose break-up and privatisation is expected. Others are family-owned groups which have only a small percentage of their capital in listed shares.

0Top 20 Latin American companies by market capitalisation

	Company	Mkt cap ($m)	Sec
1	Telefonos de Mexico	40,619.10	673
2	Petrobras	28,060.40	78
3	Itaubanco	11,518.90	810
4	Bradesco	10,520.10	810
5	Wal Mart de Mexico	10,112.80	524
6	Eletrobras	9,693.00	720
7	Vale Rio Doce	9,633.20	48
8	Ambev	9,385.40	415
9	Telemar	8,881.40	673
10	Banamex Accival GF	8,619.30	810
11	GModelo	7,933.60	415
12	Telecom Carso Global	7,905.70	673
13	Televisa	7,618.40	977
14	Telesp Operac	7,191.30	673
15	Cemex	6,043.80	132
16	Embratel Part	5,702.00	673
17	Unibanco	5,593.60	810
18	Telesp Celular Part	5,390.60	678
19	BBVA Bancomer	5,296.00	879
20	Brasil Telecom	4,783.30	673
Source: Thomson Financial Datastream

Among the privately controlled companies, two stand out - Vale Rio Doce (CVRD) (7), a conglomerate which is increasingly focusing on its iron ore business, and Embraer (23), which makes jet aircraft. Both are big exporters and increased turnover and profits last year.

Although foreign banks continued to strengthen their hold on the region's banking system, four domestically owned banks - Itau, Bradesco and Unibanco of Brazil and Banamex of Mexico - figure among the region's top 10 companies. Brazil's banks enjoyed a bumper year in 1999, profiting from their investments in government paper at a time of high interest rates.

Last year was more stable but these three leading players continued to prosper. Banamex was the first Mexican bank to come back into profitability after the banking crisis of the mid-1990s. Its ratings have been buoyed by its conservative accounting policy and a decision to move quickly to adopt internationally accepted bank accounting standards.

Latin America's smaller economies are poorly represented in the listings. The departure of four more Argentine companies has left the region's third biggest economy with only nine listed companies in the top 100. Three of the four who dropped out did so as a result of decisions by parent companies to delist (Telefonica, Astra and Perez Companc), confirming a trend of recent years which has seen the loss of names such as YPF from the markets.

Colombia's only surviving company, Bavaria, also left the listings, while three Chilean companies dropped from the table. In the case of Gener, the electricity company, this was because AES, its new owner, delisted the stock.

Chile retains a reasonable representation in the top 100. But 10 of the 16 companies slipped down the rankings.