Apple increased its brand value by 19 percent last year to hit $182.9B and remained atop WPP unit Millward Brown’s annual study of the top 100 global brands, which showed continued woes in finance.

brandz
Top 20 of MB's 100 most valuable global brands. Full list (PDF)
Among the biggest declines in the top 100 were No. 82 Citi ($9.8B, -38%), No. 92 Chase ($8.6B, -28%), Spanish banking giant Santander ($8.5B, -25%) at No. 95, Bank of China $13B, -26%), and TD ($14.6B, -14%). Mortgage giant Wells Fargo bucked the trend with an 8% increase to $39.8B to land at No. 14.

HP’s fiscal and leadership problems last year translated to a 35% decline in brand value to land the company at No. 26 with a $22.9B valuation.

MB uses a four-step methodology in determining brand value for its BrandZ Top 100 study, including the amount of corporate revenue attributed to a brand, predicted future earnings and consumer opinion.

Four of the top five brands in MB’s study released today reside in the tech sector. No. 2 IBM grew 15 percent to $115.9B, surpassing Google at $107.8B (-3%). McDonald’s ($95.2B, +17%), the lone non-tech company in the top five, was followed by Microsoft ($76.7B, -2%).

Newly public Facebook leaped 84 percent in the ranking to reside at No. 19 with a brand valuation of $33.2B.

Eileen Campbell, CEO of MB, called brands an “insurance policy for business,” adding that despite economic uncertainty and various crises the value of the top global brands keeps rising and, in turn, “sustaining and nurturing” businesses.

Tobacco giant Marlboro saw a 9% boost in brand value to $73.6B to land at No. 7 overall, surpassing AT&T, which fell one percent to $68.9B at No. 8. Verizon cracked the top 10 with a 15% increase to $49.2B.