Private Cos. Post Relatively Strong Showing

Private Cos. Post Relatively Strong Showing

THE LIST

By MICHAEL LYSTER

Orange County’s largest private companies held up relatively well in 2001 with flat sales and the addition of a handful of workers locally, according to this week’s Business Journal list.






The 45 largest private companies,a diverse group of technology, distribution, service and other businesses,saw sales ebb 4% last year to $23.9 billion. The group’s revenue was off by 3% from that posted by the top 45 companies that made last year’s list.






No. 1 Newport Beach-based Pacific life insurance Co. accounted for the group’s decline with an 18% drop to $3.6 billion in 2001 revenue.






But Pacific Life’s drop is misleading: its 2000 figure includes $1.1 billion in revenue from the insurer’s sale of its stake in Pacific Investment Management Co. Without the gain, Pacific Life’s 2001 revenue was up 10%.






Adjusting for Pacific Life, this year’s group saw $65 million more in 2001 sales than a year earlier, a result that’s statistically flat.






The list ranks the largest private companies here by 2001 sales or for the nearest 12 months.






The companies saw their local workforces expand by 2% to 23,441 people in the past year.






No. 14 Irvine-based St. John Knits International Inc., an upscale women’s clothier, led the hiring with 500 more OC workers for a total of 3,000. No. 15 Laguna Hills-based Del Taco Inc. kicked in 394 new jobs for a total of 2,198 OC workers.






Companywide, the companies cut employment by 1% to 102,035 people. No. 10 Irvine-based Freedom Communications Inc., owner of the Orange County Register and other media outlets, led the job declines in OC and companywide amid advertising’s slump. Freedom’s local headcount dropped 14% to 1,912 people. Total employment sunk 30% to 5,603 people.






Other signs of distress abound on the list, despite the group’s overall performance.






No. 6 Santa Ana-based GeoLogistics Corp. saw sales drop 34% to $1 billion. In November, GeoLogistics raised $67.5 million in a stock sale to turnaround investor Questor Management Co.






No. 7 Fountain Valley-based Kingston Technology Co., a maker of computer memory products, saw revenue fall 47% to $900 million on slower PC sales and slumping memory prices. Kingston’s ranking dropped four spots this year.






Bright spots include No. 15 Irvine-based The Linksys Group Inc., a seller of computer networking products for home and small-business users, which reported a 72% surge in sales to $355 million last year.






No. 17 Lake Forest-based construction company ARB Inc. saw revenue surge 75% to $350 million on power plant work, though that business since has slowed.






Because the companies are privately held, the list includes several Business Journal estimates based on numbers from industry sources and databases, including that of D