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Tuesday, April 09, 2002

By Patricia Sabatini, Post-Gazette Staff Writer

Correction/Clarification: (Published April 13, 2002) In charts in Tuesday's Top 50 section, an incorrect figure was given for the revenue growth of Mine Safety Appliances. The company saw 8 percent revenue growth. Also, sales for Rapidigm should have been reported as $350 million.

Wall Street likes to keep a keen eye on companies' revenue growth, and for good reason.

Strong, consistent sales gains are one indication of a growing and dynamic business.

	Online Graphic: 2001 Revenue Online Graphic: Revenue Change Online Graphic: Leaders in revenue, revenue growth

They also mean customers need and want the company's products and services, a reassuring sign that the business might actually be around for a while.

Four of the top five local finishers for revenue growth in 2001 are linked to the technology arena, proving that even the battered tech sector still has its winners. For now, the four can count themselves as growing survivors in an industry littered with failures.

For the second year in a row, local dot.com darling FreeMarkets Inc. snagged the top spot.

The seven-year-old company's revenue surged 77 percent, from $83.3 million to $148 million, as more businesses relied on the online auctioneer to secure goods and services at the best prices.

Not far behind were II-VI Inc., the Saxonburg-based maker of optical parts for lasers with the funny-sounding name, which saw revenue soar 66 percent; network equipment provider Black Box Corp., with a 63 percent gain, and engineering software developer Ansoft, where revenue jumped 30 percent.

It's worth noting, however, that those three companies have fiscal years that ended early in the year (June, March and April, respectively).

As such, the numbers don't reflect the brunt of last year's economic downturn.

While revenue returns remained strong at Ansoft through the rest of the year, growth slowed at II-VI, and considerably more at Black Box, which also executed several rounds of layoffs.

While the flashy tech sector dominated the top of the list, a company devoted to the age-old business of dressing the masses muscled in at No. 5.

Casual clothing retailer American Eagle Outfitters saw sales climb 25 percent, aided by the acquisition of the Toronto-based Blue-notes/Thrifty's chain completed late in 2000.

The Marshall-based youth-oriented retailer is on the prowl for another acquisition this year, in the range of 30 to 50 stores, preferably targeting young professionals.

Wall Street's fixation aside, revenue growth doesn't always equate with success, however.

Two-time winner FreeMarkets, for example, continues to chase it, if profits are the measure.

While the company keeps gaining devoted customers, it also lost $295 million in 2001, though it made money on an operating basis in the fourth quarter.

The company's stock, which exploded in a blaze of hope and glory to more than $350 a share shortly after going public late in 1999, now trades in the $20 range.

And take the local winner in the revenue growth category three years ago, Coudersport, Potter County-based Adelphia Business Solutions, whose sales in 1999 surged 290 percent and another 123 percent in 2000, when it finished as the runner-up.

The fallen provider of telephone and Internet connections for businesses landed in bankruptcy court last month, gasping under the weight of millions in debt incurred as it sought to expand.

Perhaps a more concrete measure of accomplishment can be found among the winners in the total revenue category, which shows the companies that pull in the most dough.

The list is a who's-who of Pittsburgh's most prestigious and long-lived corporations, most of whom have spread their reach to worldwide markets.

At the top is Alcoa, the global aluminum behemoth with sales of $22.86 billion last year. The storied rock bed of Pittsburgh industry, which acquired rival Reynolds Metals two years ago for $5.8 billion, is now in a league of its own, with more than twice the revenue of its leading challenger, H.J. Heinz Co.

Rounding out the top five are PPG Industries, U.S. Steel and PNC Financial Services Group.

All five powerhouses trace their roots to the turn (or before) of the last century, a collective set of experience totaling more than 500 years.

Now that's staying power.