New York – Wal-Mart Stores Inc. dethroned Exxon Mobil Corp. to win back first place on the 2007 Fortune 500 list after a confluence of economic forces led American companies to their most profitable year in the compilation’s 53-year history.
The big retailer posted an increase in revenue of more than 11 percent to $351.1 billion and profits of $11.3 billion, according to the magazine’s annual ranking of the nation’s largest companies.
The discounter has topped the list in five of the past six years.
Fortune’s rankings are based on companies’ 2006 revenues.
Exxon Mobil was second. It had $347.3 billion in revenue and the highest profit in history by a U.S. company, reaching $39.5 billion.
Collectively, the Fortune 500 raked in profits of $785 billion in 2006, the highest since the list’s inception in 1954.
It marked a nearly 30 percent jump over 2005 and walloped the previous record of $444 billion, reached in 2000 at the peak of the technology boom.
Fortune cited a convergence of various economic factors, including mild labor costs, a weakening U.S. dollar and soaring productivity, for the record gains.
DENVER
SBA awards honor Colo. entrepreneurs
Susan Matthews Brown, president and founder of Golden-based The Boppy Co., was named the Small Business Administration’s 2007 Colorado Small Business Person of the Year. Brown was one of nine entrepreneurs nominated for the award.
The SBA also announced seven other Colorado small-business awards: Karen D. Gonzales of the Colorado Department of Transportation, Minority Small Business Champion; Rudolph D. Bianchi, Matrix Capital Bank, Financial Services Champion; Jack Maher, KUSA-Channel 9, Small Business Journalist of the Year; Maury Dobbie, Northern Colorado Economic Development Corp., Women in Business Champion; Armando R. Atencio, National Veterans’ Training Institute/University Colorado at Denver, Veteran Small Business Champion; Makisha T. Boothe, owner of Ya Ya Spa LLC, Young Entrepreneur of the Year; and David Cisneros, Western Export Services, Small Business Exporter of the Year.
BOSTON
R&D investment up 60% in Colo. biotech
Research and development investment at Colorado’s six public biotechnology companies was up 60 percent last year, according to an Ernst and Young report released Monday.
Colorado ranked 14th in the nation in terms of the number of public biotech companies based in the state. Total assets of local biotech companies were $716 million, down 18 percent from 2005.
Part of that decline, along with the 22 percent decline in market capitalization had to do with the $2.5 billion acquisition of Westminster-based Myogen by Gilead Sciences Inc. in October.
Louisville-based Replidyne raised $45 million in a June 2006 initial public offering.
VAIL
Group weighs bid for ski championships
The Vail Valley Foundation confirmed Monday it is working on a potential bid to host the 2013 FIS World Alpine Ski Championships at Vail and Beaver Creek.
The two-week event could attract more than 800 athletes and 1,800 members of the international media to the area.
Vail and Beaver Creek hosted the championships in 1989 and 1999.
The foundation said it is working to secure support from the town, Vail Resorts Inc. and the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association before it decides whether to go forward with a bid.
GREENWOOD VILLAGE
First Data buying FundsXpress
First Data Corp., the world’s largest processor of credit-card payments, agreed to buy FundsXpress, a provider of online banking and bill-payment services. Terms of the transaction weren’t disclosed.
FundsXpress has more than 500 financial-institution customers, First Data said Monday in a statement.
DENVER
Program offers return for property owners
Home Investment Portfolio Partners (HIPP) Cos. is unveiling a national program in which property owners can earn an 8 percent annual return by collateralizing the equity in their real estate.
The program is designed for people who own their properties free and clear of any loans, mortgages or liens. Property owners will maintain ownership and control of their properties.
The equity will be used to guarantee a $30 million line of credit for mortgage lender Imperial Funding of Castle Rock.
HOUSTON
How about a chicken in your car tank?
Oil major ConocoPhillips and Tyson Foods Inc., the world’s largest meat producer, said Monday that they’re teaming to produce and market diesel fuel for U.S. vehicles using beef, pork and poultry fat.
The companies said they’ve collaborated over the past year on ways to combine Tyson’s expertise in protein chemistry and production with ConocoPhillips’ processing and marketing knowledge to introduce a renewable diesel fuel with lower carbon emissions than conventional fuels.
NEW YORK
Citigroup net income drops for 3rd quarter
Citigroup Inc., the biggest U.S. bank, said first-quarter earnings dropped 11 percent because of expenses to slash 17,000 jobs. Net income fell for the third straight quarter, declining to $5.01 billion, or $1.01 a share, from $5.64 billion, or $1.12, a year earlier.
