Exxon Is New Leader of Forbes Profit 500 List : Corporations: Oil giant knocks Philip Morris from top. Rockwell heads seven O.C. firms making at least one of four lists.
Exxon Corp., the oil giant whose 1993 profits gushed 10% higher to $5.3 billion, knocked Philip Morris Cos. Inc. from the top of Forbes magazine’s Profits 500 list, the publication said Tuesday.
In its April 25 edition, Forbes’ 26th annual survey said New York-based cigarette and food company Philip Morris, whose earnings slumped 28% last year to $3.6 billion, dropped to fourth place, a victim of a tobacco price war that punched holes in the company’s bottom line.
RJR Nabisco Holdings Corp., another tobacco company, did not make the list after losing $3 million last year.
Of the many California companies that made the list, seven are based in Orange County. Most made the list for the companies with the biggest revenues last year.
But three local concerns--Allergan, Rockwell and Fluor--also made the list of companies with the largest profits.
Two of the Big Three auto makers--Ford Motor Co. and General Motors Corp.--cruised back on Forbes’ chart, holding the fifth- and sixth-place slots. They had been bumped off the list because of big losses in 1992.
General Motors, with 1993 sales of $138 billion, made the top of Forbes’ Sales 500 chart for the ninth year in a row.
Chrysler Corp., whose profits soared 378% to $2.4 billion, was in seventh place on the profits list, a major comeback from its 98th-place showing in 1992.
Sears, Roebuck & Co., another no-show on the earnings list in 1992 after losing $2.1 billion, was in eighth place, with profits of $2.4 billion. American Express Co. also did well, rebounding to 22nd place from 110th as a result of a 178% leap in 1993 earnings to $1.6 billion.
Aside from Chrysler and American Express, only three other firms among the Top 50 on Forbes Profits 500 list posted profit increases of more than 100% in 1993.
Intel Corp., the nation’s biggest computer chip maker, racked up a profit gain of 115%, moving up to 10th place from 35th.
Citicorp, with a net profit jump of 166%, climbed to 17th from the 62nd spot. Amoco Corp. held the 19th position after holding onto the No. 48 spot in 1992.
Among Orange County companies, the giant Seal Beach technology conglomerate Rockwell had the highest rankings on the lists for both profits and sales. Rockwell, which makes products for businesses from aerospace to automobiles, placed 85th on the list for profits with $584 million. It was 82nd in sales at $11 billion.
Rockwell ranked 87th in market value, at $9.5 billion, and 203rd in assets, at $9.8 billion.
Fluor, the worldwide construction company, ranked 126th in sales--$8.1 billion--and 302nd in profits with $175 million. It also ranked 237th in market value--$4.2 billion.
Bergen Brunswig, a drug distributor based in Orange, placed 150th on the sales list at $7 billion.
Allergan, an Irvine maker of eye-care products, made the list for profits, ranking 418th at $109 million.
Computer maker AST Research in Irvine finished in 471st place for sales with $1.9 billion.
Also on one of the lists was Fountain Valley’s FHP International, a health maintenance organization that placed 427th in sales with $2.3 billion.
And Newport Beach’s Downey Savings & Loan Assn. ranked 452nd in assets with $3.5 billion.
Where O.C. Firms Rank on Forbes 500 Lists
Seven Orange County companies appear on the 1993 Forbes 500 lists of the top U.S. companies. Forbes has four separate 500 rankings: sales, profits, assets and market value.
* Rockwell: 82nd in sales; 85th in profits; 87th in market value; 203rd in assets
* Fluor Corp.: 126th in sales; 302nd in profits; 237th in market value
* Bergen Brunswig: 150th in sales
* Allergan: 418th in profits
* FHP International: 427th in sales
* Downey Savings & Loan: 452nd in assets
* AST Research: 471st in sales
TOPS IN ORANGE COUNTY
How the Orange County firms on the Forbes 500 compare (dollar amounts in millions):
Company Sales Profits Assets Mkt. value Rockwell $10,952.0 $583.6 $9,758.0 $9,482.0 Fluor 8,101.0 175.1 2,640.0 4,233.0 Allergan 859.0 108.9 940.0 1,472.0 AST Research 1,971.0 -49.8* 1,011.0 756.0 Bergen Brunswig 7,058.0 27.0 2,013.0 670.0 FHP International 2,265.0 53.1 1,007.0 891.0 Downey Savings & Loan 238.0 28.6 3,467.0 293.0
* AST incurred an anticipated loss in 1993 because of the fourth-quarter purchase of Tandy Corp.’s PC manufacturing operations.
TOP OF THE HEAP
Here are the top 10 companies from the Forbes Super 50 list. These companies rank highest in the four categories combined. Dollar amounts in billions:
Rank Company Sales Profits Assets Mkt. value 1 General Electric $ 60.6 $5.2 $251.5 $89.2 2 General Motors 138.2 2.5 188.0 55.4 3 Ford Motor 108.5 2.5 198.9 30.7 4 Exxon 97.8 5.3 84.1 81.8 5 AT&T; 67.2 4.0 60.8 72.9 6 Philip Morris 50.6 3.6 51.2 48.2 7 American Intl. Group 20.1 1.9 101.0 26.9 7 Sears, Roebuck 50.8 2.4 90.8 16.9 9 Mobil 56.6 2.1 40.6 31.7 10 Citicorp 32.2 1.9 216.6 15.2
Source: Forbes; Researched by JANICE L. JONES / Los Angeles Times
