Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, February 2, 1995 TAG: 9502020032
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: B-6 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: FAIRFAX LENGTH: Medium
The ranking by Virginia Business magazine uses sales and earnings figures.
Mobil dwarfs every other firm in the state, with revenues last year of nearly $60 billion, about five times the revenues of the second-largest firm, Richmond-based CSX Corp.
Mars, a private, family-run business that is secretive about financial information, had estimated revenues of $13 billion last year, according to the magazine. Mars' revenues were more than nine times the revenues of Richmond-based Best Products, which ranked second.
Best Products is listed as a private company even though the catalog retailer went public last summer, Virginia Business Senior Editor Kimberly Haines said Wednesday.
``We use the figures for the last fiscal year available, which in this case was before Best went public,'' she said.
The monthly magazine ranked the state's 45 largest public companies and the 15 largest private firms in its February edition. For private companies, the list uses financial data provided voluntarily by the companies, or makes estimates based on research, Haines said.
Mobil has about 3,400 employees in Northern Virginia, spokesman John Lord said Wednesday.
Mobil moved its headquarters from New York in stages, completing the move in 1990. It was the largest business relocation to Virginia and added millions to state tax revenues.
``We've had an excellent experience in Virginia,'' Lord said. ``The decision to leave New York, which was the headquarters for 100 years, was very hard. But it was not hard to choose Fairfax.''
Marlene Machut, a spokeswoman for Mars' M&M/Mars division in Hackettstown, N.J., would not release precise financial data but said the magazine's revenue estimate is generally accurate.
``That's the figure that is usually used,'' she said.
Machut would not say how many of the company's 28,000 employees worldwide are in Virginia.
Among the Top 10 largest public firms, all but one, Norfolk Southern Corp., are in Northern Virginia or Richmond. They include transportation, media, retail and manufacturing concerns.
Big private firms also are concentrated in the heavily populated crescent running from Washington to Norfolk. The largest private firm outside that area is K-Va-T Food Stores, headquartered in Grundy, the magazine reported. The distributor had $562 million in revenues in the last fiscal year.
Publicly held Western Virginia companies that made the top-45 list were No. 22 Dibrell Brothers Co. of Danville, which had revenues of $925 million but lost $14.8 million in its last fiscal year; No. 31 Tultex Corp. of Martinsville, with $552 million in revenues and a $100,000 profit; and No. 34 Bassett Furniture Industries Co. in Bassett, with $515 million in revenues and a $25 million profit.
In the sixth annual ``List of Leaders'' rankings, Virginia Business also listed the largest Virginia divisions of out-of-state companies, as well as the top firms in a variety of businesses including accounting, insurance and law firms.
The largest subsidiary is Philip Morris USA in Richmond, with 8,000 employees and $10 billion in revenues.
Newport News Shipbuilding is the state's largest private employer with 20,000 employees. But the shipyard, a division of Houston-based Tenneco Inc., ranks sixth on the subsidiary list with $1.8 billion in revenues.
According to the magazine's rankings:
Crestar Bank, based in Richmond, is the largest depository institution, with $12 billion in 1994 assets.
McGuire, Woods, Battle & Boothe, based in Richmond, is the state's largest law firm, with 346 attorneys in Virginia.
KPMG Peat Marwick is the largest accounting firm doing business in Virginia, with 265 accountants in the state.
Trigon Blue Cross Blue Shield is the largest health and life insurer doing business in the state, with $1.2 billion in premiums written in 1993.
State Farm is the largest property insurer, with $458 million in premiums in 1993.
ICF Kaiser International, based in Fairfax, is the largest architectural or engineering firm, with $796 million in revenues.
by CNB