How the 50 Fared

CORPORATIONS It used to be that a corporation's size, like a ship's, was a rough measure of its power and ability to weather adversity. In today's inclement business climate, that is no longer true. The companies on FORTUNE'S 500 list, published this week, increased their net profits only an average 2% during 1969, compared with 3.1% for all industrial corporations. The largest companies seemed to fare the worst. Partly because many are in heavy industries that were particularly buffeted last year--aircraft, autos, oil--25 of the top 50 companies, and seven of the top ten, reported a profit decline.

There were eleven money losers among the 500, notably Ling-Temco-Vought, which went $38,294,000 into the red, and Lockheed. The best performance was turned in by a newcomer to the list, Skyline, the Indiana-based maker of mobile homes that is headed by young Millionaire Arthur Decio (TIME, July 4). Its return on invested capital was 40.9%, a rate high enough to top Avon Products, which earned 35.8%. In terms of earnings calculated as a percentage of sales, the leader was Texas Gulf Sulphur, which earned 25.7%, despite a 10% sales decline.

Among the biggest companies in the top ten, General Motors was No. 1, as always, in sales, followed by Standard Oil of New Jersey, Ford Motor Co. and General Electric. IBM moved up to fifth place, and Chrysler down to sixth, just ahead of Mobil Oil and Texaco. The largest gain among the big ten was made by that exclusive club's sole newcomer and only conglomerate, ITT, which scored a 34.6% sales increase, boosting it into ninth place, ahead of Gulf Oil. U.S. Steel, a member of the club since the list was first published in 1955, dropped to twelfth spot this year, behind Western Electric. In all, 115 industrial firms had sales of more than $1 billion, and a company had to ring up $162 million to qualify for listing in the 500.

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