Wal-Mart remains No. 1 in Fortune 500 ranking

NEW YORK – Wal-Mart Stores Inc. shrugged off weak consumer spending to remain atop the 2008 Fortune 500 list, edging Exxon Mobil Corp. for the second straight year in the magazine’s annual ranking of publicly traded companies.

Fortune compiled its list based on companies’ 2007 revenues. Wal-Mart raked in $378.8 billion in revenue last year, up 7.9 percent from 2006, and had $12.7 billion in profits, according to the list released Monday. The discount retailer has topped the list six times in the last seven years, having been unseated only by Exxon Mobil.

Though consumer spending fell sharply last year, Wal-Mart weathered the slowdown better than other retailers as shoppers have been trading down to cheaper stores amid a difficult economy, falling home values and increased unemployment.