The 500 largest U.S. companies have accumulated record earnings last year amounting to $824.5 billion. The earnings eclipsed the previous record of $785 billion from 2006, despite the slow recovery of U.S. economy, according to Fortune top 500. 2006 was a year of strong economic growth, before the subprime crisis in U.S. that affected the global economy. “Accumulated earnings of the 500 largest U.S. companies rose 16.4% last year. As the economy is slowly recovering and the consumers continue to be fearful of the economic crisis, you’d expect the biggest companies to crawl instead of galloping”, according to the U.S. magazine Fortune.
Unlike the U.S. economy, Fortune 500 companies have shown extreme agility, rapidly changing the product mix, producing more for the less wealthy, the statement said. The companies slashed costs, mainly labor expenses, as they laid off people and were reluctant to hire workers. The Fortune 500 companies worldwide are employing now 25.8 people, just 1% more than 5 years ago. There are 17 million people working for the Fortune 500 companies in the U.S. Last year the 500 companies generated $455,000 in revenue per employee. The profits of Fortune 500 companies represent 7% of total sales. The 500 companies achieved a return-to-equity of 14.3%.
Exxon Mobil has beaten the leader of last year, Wal-Mart, with a turnover of $453 billion and a profit of $41 billion, while General Motors climbed three places to fifth position. Wal-Mart had revenues last year of $446.9 billion and a profit of $15.7 billion. This is the 13th time that Exxon Mobil is the number one and for the sixth time when the giant retailer Wal-Mart and Exxon Mobil oil group trade places on the first two positions during the last decade.
The following eight places in the rankings, depending on revenue, are taken in order by Chevron ($245.6 billion), ConocoPhillips ($237.3 billion), General Motors ($150.3 billion), General Electric ($147.6 billion) Berkshire Hathaway ($143.7 billion), Fannie Mae ($137.5 billion), Ford Motor ($136.3 billion) and Hewlett-Packard ($127.3 billion).
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