The Virginian-Pilot 
                            THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT  
              Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: Tuesday, April 11, 1995                TAG: 9504110427
SECTION: BUSINESS                 PAGE: D1   EDITION: FINAL 
                                             LENGTH: Medium:   55 lines

RINGING UP THE PROFIT

RINGING UP THE PROFIT

Forbes magazine - which reported four separate rankings of the biggest corporations by sales, profits, assets and market value - says that General Motors Corp. was the biggest and most profitable of America's corporations in 1994.

In a year that saw America's biggest corporations become richer and more valuable as a whole, Forbes reports, General Motors Corp. posted the highest profit in 1994.

The magazine said in its April 24 issue, released Sunday, that the companies that comprised its Forbes 500 listings showed increases in each category based on 1994 results.

America's 500 most profitable companies saw profits grow 22.5 percent to a combined $250 billion compared with 1993. The 500 companies with the greatest sales saw that measure grow 7.8 percent to $4.1 trillion.

Forbes said that the 500 companies ranked by greatest assets saw their wealth increase 8.7 percent to $9.7 trillion. The biggest companies by market value saw their worth gain 5.5 percent to $3.8 trillion.

General Motors topped the magazine's list of the most profitable companies, displacing 1993 champion Exxon Corp., which fell to No. 3. GM also topped the sales list.

``It was also a banner year for the rest of Detroit,'' Forbes said.

A total of 776 companies employing 20.2 million made their way onto the magazine's four 500 lists. The city boasting the greatest number of Forbes 500 companies in 1994 was New York. It was home to 63 of the companies, down from 68 in 1993. The next most popular cities were Chicago, Los Angeles, Houston and San Francisco.

In terms of assets, the nation's top company was Federal National Mortgage Association, or Fannie Mae. General Electric led in the market-value category.

On March 27, Forbes released its Super 50 list, a ranking of the 50 most powerful companies based on a formula that combined sales, profits, assets and market-value rankings. The top performer: General Motors. ILLUSTRATION: Graphic

The biggest Corporations by:

Profits

Sales

Assets

Market value

For copy of graphic, see microfilm.

by CNB