Canadian banks rank as country's most valuable brands

TORONTO -- Canadian banks continue to come out on top as the country's most valuable brands while energy and resource companies saw a notable decline in the last year, according to Brand Finance Canada.

The list released Wednesday, which analyzed brand performance of Canadian companies as of Jan. 1, named the Toronto-Dominion Bank as the most valuable brand in Canada with a worth $10.4 billion.

It attributed TD Bank's work to establish itself in the U.S. market as a reason for its surge over last year's most valuable brand, the Royal Bank of Canada.

RBC, Scotiabank , Bank of Montreal, and Bell rounded out the top five most valuable brands in the ranking, growing 19 per in value year over year due to growth in international markets.

In general, Brand Finance says the top 50 Canadian brands saw a combined value increase of six per cent to $126.4 billion from $119 billion compared with 2012.

But it wasn't all good news for the value of Canadian brands.

Nearly half of the companies on the list saw their brand value drop, with energy and mining companies leading the pack -- down 14 per cent year-over-year.

"It is estimated that global growth rates will continue to be low for the foreseeable future emphasizing the need to build strong brands that can differential themselves and fend off competition from frequently larger foreign companies," said Edgar Baum, managing director of Brand Finance Canada.

"Canadian brands can accomplish this by quantifying their brand strength by channel and geography, and invest their limited brand and marketing dollars where it would differentiate themselves from their global competitors and provide the highest financial return."

Brand Finance says its ranking showed that Enbridge  saw a significant decline of $550 million in its brand value, partly due to the company's controversial Northern Gateway project and its current pipeline projects in the U.S.

The list also noted that Research in Motion's BlackBerry brand dropped off the top 10 list this year, declining 38 per cent in value to $2.04 billion.

It attributed the loss to declines in RIM's market share price and troubles at the beleaguered technology firm in 2012, even though it pointed out that the company may be on the rebound.

The ranking also signalled growth in value in Canada's retail brands, including gains from Dollarama (TSX:DOL), Circle K by Alimentation Couche-Tard (TSX:ATD.A), Tim Horton's (TSX:THI), Lululemon (TSX:LLL) and clothing manufacturer Gildan (TSX:GIL).

It also noted that real estate management firms Ivanhoe Cambridge and Cadillac Fairview made it onto the list this year.

Top 10 Most Valuable Brands in Canada, according to Brand Finance Canada