Tech Names Skew Second 50 Public Companies
By ANDREW SIMONS
Lingering bad fortunes at technology companies drove a drop in sales last year at the second 50 largest public companies based in Orange County.
That’s according to this week’s Business Journal list, our second in a three-part series on the county’s public companies. This week’s list,half of them tech companies,covers those ranked 51 to 100 based on sales for the most recent 12 months, most ended Dec. 31.
Last week, we ranked the top 50 public companies. In two weeks, we’re set to cover the next 50.
A note: This week’s third list was altered by the recent move of Sun Healthcare Group Inc., one of the nation’s larger nursing home operators, to Irvine from New Mexico (see story below). Sun should have ranked No. 8 on last week’s list with 2002 sales of $1.9 billion.
As a result, this week’s No. 51, Irvine-based Resources Connection Inc., moves down from No. 50 on last week’s list.
The second 50 public companies saw revenue dip 2% to $3.7 billion in 2002. Big revenue drops at tech names such as No. 53 Irvine-based Newport Corp. and No. 56 Irvine-based Epicor Software Corp. fueled the decline.
Newport, a maker of gear for chip and fiber-optic device production, saw its sales plunge as a result of the persistent chip and telecommunications slowdown, as well as the sale of its industrial metrology systems last year.
Both Newport and Epicor fell to the second 50 from their spots in the top 50 last year.
Comparing the second 50 companies to the slightly different mix of names that made up last year’s list, sales were up 5%.
The second 50 companies posted a combined 2002 net loss of $379.8 million, expanded from a $276.4 million net loss at the companies a year earlier. Newport accounted for $100 million of this year’s net loss.
Comparing this year’s group to last year’s, the net loss narrowed from $406 million.
Three companies on last year’s list,including Santa Ana-based Micro General Corp., last year’s No. 62, Irvine-based Datum Inc., No. 63 a year ago, and Santa Ana-based Starbase Corp., last year’s No. 85,fell off after being bought.
Four companies dropped down from the top 50 last year, while three moved out of the second 50 and are set to appear on the list two weeks from now.
Four companies that ranked lower than 100 last year moved up, including No. 86 Irvine-based Cardiac Science Inc. (No. 126 a year ago), No. 91 Costa Mesa-based ANZA Capital Inc. (No. 110 last year), No. 92 Irvine-based American Spectrum Realty Inc. (No. 131 last year) and No. 99 San Clemente-based Biolase Technology Inc. (last year’s No. 109).
No. 88 Irvine-based Commercial Capital Bancorp debuted on the list after going public in December.
The big sales drops at Newport, down 49% to $164 million, and Epicor, off 16% to $144 million, skewed things for the rest of the group.
Overall, more companies had revenue gains than decreases. Of the 23 decliners, 15 were tech companies.
Net income was a different story. More than half the companies posted declines in income or increasing losses. Of the decliners, only 10 were tech companies.
Besides Newport and Epicor, other money losing tech companies included No. 71 Tustin-based MTI Technology Corp., a reseller of data storage gear, and No. 66 Cypress-based Universal Electronics Inc., a maker of remote controls.
There were positive signs on this year’s list. Like last year’s list, 24 companies reported double-digit increases in sales, while 16 companies posted higher profits or lower losses. Seven companies turned the corner from losses to profits.
No. 89 Irvine-based video game maker Interplay Enter-tainment Corp. moved into the black with $15.5 million in net income, thanks to restructuring. The profit came despite a 22% decline in sales to $44 million.
Another notable was No. 96 Garden Grove-based DPAC Technologies Corp., which posted a 28% rise in net income to $2.5 million and a 13% gain in sales to $34.5 million, thanks to added government demand for its memory products.
ANZA Capital, a financial services provider to the real estate market, also posted a small profit in 2002 after losing $5.8 million last year. ANZA saw a 139% jump in sales to $41.8 million.
Employment at the second 50 declined again this year. The companies employed 9,655 people in OC, down 3% from a year ago.
Newport and Epicor were some of the biggest decliners. Newport cut 31% of its OC workers, or 211 people, to come in at 478. Epicor trimmed 33% of its OC staff, or 100 people, to come in at 200.
