Now Available: Vertical Gap Analysis And Labor Productivity Benchmarks On Mellon Financial Corporation

Market Wire, 20050229

Released today by ICON Group International Ltd.: Two of the most comprehensive studies to date on vertical gap analysis and labor productivity benchmarks for Mellon Financial Corporation (NYSE: MEL).

The methodologist for this unique study is Philip Parker, Eli Lilly Chair Professor of Innovation, Business and Society at INSEAD (Fontainebleau, France and Singapore). According to Professor Parker, "With the globalization of markets, greater foreign competition, and the reduction of barriers to entry, it becomes all the more important to benchmark a company's financial indicators on a worldwide basis. World stock markets have recently witnessed a return to fundamental financial analysis." The goal of the reports is to assist consultants, financial managers, strategic planners, and corporate officers in gauging certain indicators of Mellon Financial Corporation's financial and human resource structure.

The report has benchmarked Mellon Financial Corporation against competing firms in the National Commercial Banks industry worldwide - going beyond traditional methods of company benchmarking. The results are two specialized reports: (1) global financial benchmarks using common-size statement ratios (vertical analysis), and (2) labor productivity and utilization measures collected across borders.

Coverage reports, financial ratios and labor productivity ratios, are available for Mellon Financial Corporation. Each report reveals productivity and industry ranks for Mellon Financial Corporation in the National Commercial Banks industry. Reports for the following and many other National Commercial Banks companies are available now:

Bancwest Corporation, Bank of America Corporation, BB & T Corporation, Citigroup Inc, Credicorp Ltd., First Tennessee National Corporation, First Virginia Banks Incorporated, Fleetboston Financial Corporation, Hibernia Corp., KeyCorp, M & T Bank Corporation, Marshall & Ilsley Corporation, MBNA Corporation, Mellon Financial Corporation, National City Corporation, National Commerce Financial Corporation, PNC Financial Services Group, Inc., Suntrust Banks Incorporated, TCF Financial Corporation, UBS AG, Union Planters Corporation, UnionBancal Corporation, US Bancorp, and Wachovia Corp.

The vertical analysis deals with questions like: How has Mellon Financial Corporation's asset structure varied compared to global benchmarks for the National Commercial Banks industry? Does it generally hold more cash and other short-term assets, or does it tend to concentrate its assets in physical plant and equipment? On the liability side, does Mellon Financial Corporation typically have a higher percent of payables compared to the benchmarks, or does it hold a higher concentration of long-term debt? Does Mellon Financial Corporation have a relatively higher cost of goods sold, operating costs, or income taxes compared to global benchmarks? Have Mellon Financial Corporation's returns on equity been higher or its profit margins greater?

While the labor productivity analysis answers the following: What has been the ratio of short-term and long-term assets to employee? What are typical capital-labor ratios? What are the average sales and net profits per employee compared to global benchmarks?

Professor Parker notes, "We are intrigued by the wide variations in basic financial and productivity measures between Mellon Financial Corporation and other National Commercial Banks companies. The Earnings Before Interest And Taxes (EBIT), for example, varied from -5.63 to 74.57. We see this type of variation in the hundreds of ratios that we estimate."

Methodology: Uncovering Gaps

Most vertical analyses merely focus on benchmarking against domestic ratios, often published by government agencies or commercial sources. In contrast, ICON Group International Ltd. calculates thousands of industry norms by looking at firms at the global level, pooling statistics on tens of thousands of companies across over 40 countries, and applying a seven-stage methodology: (1) identification of industry classifications, (2) firm-level data collection and aggregation, (3) standardization of raw statistics, (4) filtering outliers, (5) calculation of global norms, (6) projection of deviations and gaps, and (7) projection of ranks and percentiles. For each part of the financial statement, the larger structural differences and gaps between Mellon Financial Corporation. and the global benchmarks are provided with summary tables of ranks and percentiles.

Previously available only through booksellers such as Hoovers, Amazon.com, and Barnes and Noble, two studies are now available direct from the publisher at a 50% discount off the cover price. This special offer includes International Competitive Benchmarks and Financial Gap Analysis and Labor Productivity Benchmarks and International Gap Analysis at US$190.90 ($99.95) each.

E-mail iconsubs@san.rr.com for more information.

About ICON Group Ltd.

ICON Group Ltd. assists managers with global benchmarking, gap analysis, and productivity studies. Clients can create their own benchmarks by choosing their competitors from among over 20,000 companies.