Orange County’s 75 largest private companies posted a 13% revenue gain to $42 billion last year while holding local employment steady and growing some jobs elsewhere, according to the Business Journal annual list.
The trend echoed that of the county’s 75 largest publicly traded companies, which saw a 19% sales increase to $104 billion last year and flat local employment.
Our list of the largest private companies appears in our May 15 issue. Our list of the 75 largest public companies ran April 10.
For the private companies, this year’s sales gain marks the third straight year of growth. The companies on the list are a diverse group of technology businesses, grocers, real estate owners and developers, auto dealers and others.
The top 10 companies on the list dominate. They accounted for more than half of the $5 billion in new revenue the companies posted last year.
The most significant gain came at No. 2 Orange-based ACC Capital Holdings Corp., parent of Ameriquest Mortgage. The Business Journal estimates a $700 million gain, or 28%, at the mortgage lender last year. We estimated ACC Capital at $3.2 billion in 2005 revenue.
Not far behind was No. 7 WL Homes LLC, a Newport Beach-based homebuilder whose main unit is John Laing Homes. The company’s $606 million sales gain was a 58% increase from 2004.
The gain pushed WL Homes to $1.6 billion in 2005 sales and up from No. 10 on last year’s list.
Newport Beach-based Pacific Life Insurance Co. again tops our list, as it has for years.
For more on this story, see the May 15 edition of the Business Journal.
