2007 was a transition year for Orange County’s largest public companies as the expansion of the past few years met the slowed economy of today.
The county’s 75 largest public companies by sales saw a 10.6% rise in revenue last year to $97 billion, according to this week’s Business Journal list. Technology companies Ingram Micro Inc. and Western Digital Corp. drove the gain.
But big losses at real estate companies First American Corp., Standard Pacific Corp. and Impac Mortgage Holdings Inc. spurred a $981 million net loss for the group, versus a profit of $6 billion a year earlier.
The loss is the first for the county’s largest public companies since 2002, when the companies on our list posted $1.2 billion in red ink amid the recession and technology downturn.
Local employment at the 75 companies was down 2% to 37,493 people as mortgage investor Impac and others pared jobs faster than the county as a whole.
Last year, Orange County lost 6,600 jobs, a 0.4% decline from a year earlier, according to state’s Employment Development Department.
The list ranks companies by sales, most for the 12 months through Dec. 31.
2007 was a good year for many of the companies, which represent a broad mix of technology, healthcare, real estate, apparel and other businesses.
Nearly 75% of them, or 56, posted higher sales. About two-thirds, or 48 companies, were profitable.
But those that lost money lost big.
For more on this story, see the April 7 edition of the Business Journal.
