Photographs: Brendan McDermid/Reuters
While many companies struggle to break even, there are some that are reporting record-breaking profits.
Let's take a look at some of the largest corporate earnings of all time in the world.
Source: Wikipedia
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World's biggest corporate earnings of all time
Photographs: Jessica Rinaldi/Reuters
ExxonMobil
Industry: Oil and gas
Country: The United States
Earnings (2011): $41.06 billion
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World's biggest corporate earnings of all time
Photographs: Denis Balibouse/Reuters
Nestle
Industry: Food processing
Country: Switzerland
Earnings (2010): $37.88 billion
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World's biggest corporate earnings of all time
Photographs: Phil Noble/Reuters
Royal Dutch Shell
Industry: Oil and gas
Country: The Netherlands/UK
Earnings (2010): $20.47 billion
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World's biggest corporate earnings of all time
Photographs: Mike Blake/Reuters
Ford Motor Company
Industry: Automotive
Country: The United States
Earnings (1998): $22.07 billion
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World's biggest corporate earnings of all time
Photographs: Shannon Stapleton/Reuters
Citigroup
Industry: Banking financial services
Country: The United States
Earnings (2005): $24.59 billion
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World's biggest corporate earnings of all time
Photographs: Toby Melville/Reuters
BP
Industry: Oil and gas and alternative fuels
Country: The United Kingdom
Earnings (2008): $21.67 billion
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World's biggest corporate earnings of all time
Photographs: Darley Shen/Reuters
Apple
Industry: Consumer electronics
Country: The United States
Earnings (2011): $25.92 billion
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World's biggest corporate earnings of all time
Photographs: Fred Prouser/Reuters
Chevron
Industry: Oil and gas mining
Country: The United States
Earnings (2008): $23.93 billion
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World's biggest corporate earnings of all time
Photographs: Chris Keane/Reuters
United Airlines
Industry: Airline
Country: The United States
Earnings (2006): $22.88 billion
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World's biggest corporate earnings of all time
Photographs: Charles Platiau/Reuters
Industrial and Commercial Bank of China
Industry: Banking
Country: China
Earnings (2010): $24.40 billion
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World's biggest corporate earnings of all time
Photographs: David W Cerny/Reuters
General Electric
Industry: Conglomerate
Country: The United States
Earnings (2006): $20.74 billion
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World's biggest corporate earnings of all time
Photographs: Chris Keane/Reuters
Bank of America
Industry: Banking and financial services
Country: The United States
Earnings (2006): $21.13 billion
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World's biggest corporate earnings of all time
Photographs: Albert Gea/Reuters
Samsung
Industry: Conglomerate
Country: South Korea
Earnings (2010): $21.2 billion
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World's biggest corporate earnings of all time
Photographs: Alfred Cheng Jin/Reuters
Petrochina
Industry: Oil and gas and petrochemicals
Country: China
Earnings (2010): $21.16 billion
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World's biggest corporate earnings of all time
Photographs: Sergei Karpukhin/Reuters
Gazprom
Industry: Oil and gas
Country: Russia
Earnings (2009): $20.61 billion
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