Exxon bumps Wal-Mart from No. 1

NEW YORK – Skyrocketing energy prices propelled Exxon Mobil Corp. to the top of the 2006 Fortune 500 list and consigned Wal-Mart Stores Inc. to the No. 2 spot on the magazine’s annual ranking of the nation’s largest publicly traded companies.

Fortune compiled its list based on companies’ 2005 revenues. Exxon Mobil raked in $340 billion in revenue, a 25.5 percent increase over 2004, and had $36.1 billion in profits, the most by any U.S. company in history.

Exxon Mobil last appeared at No. 1 in 2001. Only Wal-Mart, Exxon Mobil and General Motors Corp. have topped the list since its inception in 1954.

Wal-Mart had $315.654 billion in revenue, a 9.5 percent increase from last year. Because of its pervasive U.S. presence, the world’s largest retailer has struggled to sustain profit growth in the high teens as it had in previous years.

Other oil producers also rose in the rankings, boosted by crude prices that topped $70 a barrel and gasoline prices that surpassed $3 a gallon after hurricanes battered the Gulf Coast.

Both ChevronTexaco Corp. and ConocoPhillips saw their revenues jump in 2005, increasing by 28 percent and 37 percent, respectively. Chevron climbed two spots to No. 4, while Conoco edged up to No. 6 from No. 7 last year.

The major U.S. automakers showed their vulnerability as they faced declining U.S. sales and increasing benefit costs.

GM barely retained its hold on the No. 3 spot, while Ford Motor Co. slipped to fifth place from No. 4. GM’s revenues decreased nearly one-half percent to $192.604 billion, while Ford’s rose less than 3 percent to $177.21 billion.

In general, 2005 treated the top U.S. companies to big revenues and profits. The 500 brought in a combined $9.1 trillion in revenue, a 10.2 percent increase over last year, and $610 billion in profits, record numbers on both accounts.

Low long-term interest rates, which spurred consumer spending, and a growing global economy helped the companies to hit those records. The global economy grew by 4.25 percent, led by China, India and a recovering Japan.

“We really are a one world economy,” said Cait Murphy, assistant managing editor at Fortune. “If the global economic growth is strong, then the 500 will do well, because they have substantial operations and sales abroad.”

Only three of the 47 industry groups that the magazine tracks lost money last year: the airline, motor vehicles and building materials industries.