KUALA LUMPUR (July 25): The amount of cash held by US non-financial companies totaled US$1.84 trillion at the end of 2016, up 9.2% from US$1.68 trillion at the end of 2015, according to Moody's Investors Service.

In a report last week, Moody’s said the top-five cash hoarders all come from the technology sector, with Apple holding a record high of US$246.1 billion.

Moody's senior vice president Richard Lane said the technology sector today holds the most cash among US non-financial companies, accounting for 47% of the total, followed by healthcare/pharmaceuticals, consumer products, and energy.

"The top five most cash-flush companies -- Apple, Microsoft, Google, Cisco and Oracle -- now hold 32% of the total, with Apple by itself accounting for 13.4%,” said Lane.

He explained that the latest increase in cash comes despite an overall decline in revenue and cash flow from operations.

“Reflecting a low growth global economic environment, still-challenging conditions in the energy, metals, and mining industries, and modest foreign-exchange headwinds, revenue fell 5.3% to US$10.2 trillion in 2016. Meanwhile, cash flow from operations dropped 5.8% to US$1.45 trillion,” said Lane.

Moody’s however said capital spending declined by 18% to US$727 billion, dragged down by the beleaguered energy sector.

It said acquisition spending fell by 2% to US$393 billion last year, while net share buybacks slid 21% to US$212 billion, helping corporate cash to pile up.

At the same time, dividend payments decreased 4.5% to US$386 billion on the back of a 35% decline in energy sector payouts, said Moody’s.

The international rating agency said that ioining the list of 50 most cash-flush companies required US$6.12 billion of cash, about even with last year, but up from US$6.07 billion in 2014 and US$2.9 billion in 2007.

Moody’s said investment-grade companies held US$1.6 trillion in cash, or 87% of the total, up from US$1.4 trillion, or 87%, in 2015.

It said issuers with single-A ratings represented 29.5% of the total, the largest percentage among all rating categories.

Moody's estimated that cash held overseas amounted to US$1.3 trillion, or 70% of the total cash pile in 2016, up from its estimate of US$1.2 trillion, or 72% of the total in 2015.

It said this amount reflects the negative tax consequences of permanently repatriating money to the US, as well as the use of domestic cash for dividends, share buybacks and the majority of acquisitions.