Public Companies 2007

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There have been no IPOs in the past year to help stock the public company pool, so it’s no surprise that our annual list of Oregon public companies continued to dwindle this year.

${safe_alt_text}$ The value proposition

Total market value, revenue make strong rebounds in our annual public list.

There have been no IPOs in the past year to help stock the public company pool, so it’s no surprise that our annual list of Oregon public companies continued to dwindle this year. From 1997 to 2006, there has been a net loss of 26 public companies.

But that’s the only thing shrinking in this club: The 62 companies on this year’s list posted leaps in total market value and total revenue. Market value grew 18.9% and revenue grew 9.2%, along with a 12.9% growth in total net incomes.

That is a much-improved picture compared to last year when total market value shrank by 6%, and only 42 companies saw revenue growth. This year, 48 companies posted revenue growth.

Oregon’s largest company by far, Beaverton-based Nike, saw its market value grow from $22.5 billion in 2005 to $25 billion last year. The market value of No. 2 company Precision Castparts of Portland grew from $6.9 billion in 2005 to $10.7 billion in 2006.

Acquisitions and a change of address cost the list a few notable Oregon institutions. Among them: Oregon Steel Mills (No. 6 last year), was acquired in January by Evraz Group, a Russian steel and mining company; Barrett Business Services (No. 29 last year) moved its headquarters to Vancouver, Wash., in April; and also in April, Advanced Power Technology (No. 43 last year) was acquired by Irvine, Calif.-based Microsemi Corp.

But we also welcome a few newbies to town. New World Brands (No. 49) moved its headquarters from Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., to Eugene; MathStar (No. 60) moved from Minneapolis, Minn., to Hillsboro; and Aultra Gold (No. 61) left Las Vegas to make Jacksonville its HQ.

The equity market remains strong, but clearly the Sarbanes-Oxley reporting requirements are still having a chilling effect on companies going public. But the chill hasn’t affected the heated performance of Oregon’s public companies this year.

— The editors