Oregon Business

It was a strong year for overall revenue and profits, while the net number of companies remained the same and and total market value slipped.

The revenue and income pictures were strong for this year’s top Oregon public companies, while total market value shrank.

Total revenues grew by 7% overall, and total net income grew 20.3% (although only 43 companies experienced revenue growth, compared to 51 last year). Total market value slipped by 1.7%. There was no growth in the number of public companies, either. From 1997 to 2005, the state has seen a net loss of 25 public companies.

Five companies left the list (and the state) for a variety of reasons. The biggest were Hollywood Entertainment Corp. (No. 5 last year), which was acquired by Alabama-based Movie Gallery in April 2005, and KinderCare Learning Centers (No. 10 last year), which was acquired in January 2005 by Knowledge Learning Corp, a subsidiary of the California-based Knowledge Universe. AB Holding Corp. was sold, and both Nano Chemical Systems and Oxis International moved their headquarters out of the state.

“We’re a medium-sized market at best,” says Scott Dawson, dean of Portland State University’s School of Business Administration, adding that he thinks it will always be difficult to recruit big companies to headquarter in the state.

And the near absence of IPOs? The costs associated with complying with Sarbanes-Oxley reporting requirements “have made many potential IPOs think long and hard before taking the plunge,” says Dawson. “At the same time, the equity market is huge and provides alternative forms of financing.” Dawson sees some sun on the horizon, though. He expects several companies in a number of different industries to go public within the next 18 months.

Five new companies joined the list this year. The biggest news was Portland General Electric, entering the list at No. 5. PGE was listed on the New York Stock Exchange in April following the bankruptcy settlement of its former parent, Enron.

The perennial gorilla on the list, Nike, saw its market value drop from $23.9 billion in 2004 to $22.5 billion in 2005. That drop comes on the heels of Nike’s growth spurt from $18 billion in 2003. But revenues rose 9% over last year, and income was up 15%.

The revenue picture was strong for other iconic and important Oregon companies, such as StanCorp Financial Group, Lithia Motors, Precision Castparts, Columbia Sportswear and Schnitzer Steel.

— The editors

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