Loading
Coffee Talk
Who's the biggest?
Many of Florida's largest corporations continue to grow like wildfires before the summer rains.
Tech Data Corp. just grabbed the 109th spot on the 2007 Fortune 500, only two spots behind Publix Super Markets, which held the No. 1 spot as the largest corporation in the state.
The good news is it's Tech Data's 12th consecutive year on the list, but the Clearwater-based public company lost $97 million, or $1.76 per share, for the 12 months ended Jan. 31. A distributor of IT products, the company had $21.4 billion in sales in its 2006 fiscal year - its biggest ever.
Financials for the most recent quarter indicate a turnaround at Tech Data, with net income of $36.1 million, a 22% increase from $29.5 million a year ago.
Tech Data's 8,000 worldwide employees move about 70,000 product shipments daily, says Tech Data CEO Robert Dutkowsky.
"That's an accomplishment very few companies in the world can equal," he states in a press release.
Publix Super Markets is, of course, in an entirely different industry, but the Lakeland-based private grocery chain, with $21.8 billion in revenue, is the largest corporation in Florida, according to the Fortune 500.
The following Gulf Coast companies made the Fortune 1,000 list, based on revenue: Health Management Associates, Naples, $4.2 billion (513 rank); OSI Restaurant Partners, Tampa, $3.9 billion (535 rank); WellCare Health Plans, Tampa, $3.8 billion (551 rank); TECO Energy, Tampa, $3.4 billion, (582 rank); Walter Industries, Tampa, $3.1 billion (634 rank); Raymond James Financial, St. Petersburg, $2.6 billion (712 rank); WCI Communities, Bonita Springs, $2 billion (840 rank); Source Interlink Cos., Bonita Springs, $1.8 billion (907 rank); Roper Industries, Sarasota, $1.7 billion (947 rank); and Chico's FAS, Fort Myers, $1.6 billion (964 rank).
The secret to Tech Data's success? The company, founded in 1974, claims it outsmarts rivals by keeping expenses and debt low.
+ Job market advantage goes to employees
Florida's current unemployment rate is now so low that based on a new study of online job vacancies, just about anyone in the Sunshine State who wants to work, can work. The Conference Board, a New York-based business research agency, reports that the number of unemployed in Florida as compared to online job vacancies is 1.1 to 1 - a virtual full employment that many Coffee Talk readers likely know all too well.
The yearlong study found that, overall, Florida-based companies placed 29,500 more online job ads over the 12 months between March 2006 and March 2007 than the previous year, a 13% growth rate. The Tampa area accounted for 17% of those ads, the study found, with a majority looking for employees to fill health care, technical and administrative support jobs.
Despite all of its data, the Conference Board offers little advice for those on the executive side who are trying to fill positions in such a lopsided employee's market. Coffee Talk smells some new employee benefits on the horizon.
+ Mixed bag in economic report card
The Tampa Bay area got the kind of economic report card last week that you don't want to crow about.
A scorecard, released April 17 by the Tampa Bay Partnership, shows the seven-county region dropped to fourth place from third, when compared to five similar metro areas of Jacksonville, Atlanta, Charlotte, Raleigh-Durham and Dallas. Only Jacksonville performed more poorly.
The report confirmed anecdotal evidence of layoffs at area companies related to home building, with the construction industry losing 3,400 jobs over 12 months between December 2005 and 2006 following the boom years.
Job growth, while still strong overall, slowed to 2.86%, a 1% drop from the summer of 2006. Combined with high housing costs and weak wages, slowing job growth contributed to the lower rating.
The area dropped from one to four on job growth, which the Partnership says is clearly a red flag for the economy.
The region, which includes Hillsborough, Pinellas, Pasco, Sarasota, Manatee, Hernando and Polk counties, still has the lowest unemployment rate, at 3%, of the six metro areas.
In fact, even with the slowdown, Florida still leads the nation in job creation, followed by Texas. And the Tampa Bay area is still doing well when it comes to education.
When it comes to average wages, the region ranked last for the third consecutive time, with the median salary at $36,406, coming in slightly lower than Jacksonville. Wages trail the other areas by 18% to 28%.
Tampa Bay Partnership Chair Judy Genshaft, who's also the president of the University of South Florida, says the adjusted pace is more conducive to long-term sustainable growth, especially since the region is expected to double its population by 2050.
Most agree the housing industry's boom years of 2004 and 2005 were not sustainable. In fact, one Pinellas County Realtor calls them the steroid years.
First on the scorecard was Raleigh-Durham, followed by Dallas, Charlotte, Tampa and Jacksonville.
+ Sarasota firm helps company retain top status
Being number one rarely gets old - and that goes for NRT Inc., the parent company of Sarasota-based brokerage firm Coldwell Banker Residential Real Estate. This year marks the 10th straight year that NRT was ranked as the top residential real estate firm in RIS Media's annual Power Broker report. Parsippany, N.J.-based NRT closed more than $193 billion in sales and completed 392,452 transactions in 2006; the total sales volume was greater than next 17 firms on the Power Broker list.
The Sarasota Coldwell Banker office chipped in $14.7 billion in closings and 35,699 transactions to NRT's overall numbers, making it the largest brokerage on the list in Florida - more than three times larger than the second place firm of Watson Realty Corp in Jacksonville.
Three other Gulf Coast brokerages also made the top 10 in Florida.
Michael Saunders & Co. was fourth in Florida with $1.6 billion in sales. Century 21 Sunbelt Realty in Cape Coral was eighth on the list with $974 million in sales and Re/Max Properties in Sarasota was ninth with $905 million in sales.
+ Millionaires are people, too
Maybe executives fighting the hiring wars (see above item) can look to Florida's plethora of retirees. That's the word coming out of another survey, this one commissioned by Chicago-based wealth management firm Northern Trust, with the gist being that one out of six millionaires over 70 want to remain in the workforce in some capacity.
So much for kicking back in one's Golden Years.
The survey found that while 48% of the 1,000-plus polled millionaires say they are retired, 29% of that group have gone back to work in some form and 4% report they are actively looking for work.
And even the wealthy worry about stuff. The survey reports that health care costs, personal family health and tax increases top their list. Specifically, 47% of respondents between the ages of 42 and 60 are most concerned about the rising cost of health care, while 35% of millionaires between the ages of 27 and 41 cite tax increases as their biggest worry.
+ Jabil's absence from
500 a filing issue
Talking about the Fortune 500, one Tampa Bay area company was conspicuously absent from the newest ranking of the nation's largest corporations. Jabil Circuit, which ranked 303 on last year's list, was no where to be found.
But it's not because revenue dropped enough to remove the St. Petersburg-based company. No, the electronics equipment manufacturer, with 2005 revenue of $7.5 billion, was left off because it hasn't posted full financial results since June 2005.
The company announced in March it would record about $54.3 million in charges for erroneous accounting on past stock-option grants after an internal review found discrepancies with Jabil's 2003 financial statements.
"We are indeed not listed on the Fortune 500 this year because we have not been able to file our financials for fiscal year 2006," says Beth Walters, vice president of investor relations for Jabil.
To be included on the Fortune 500, a company must report operating income, she says, adding, "It's too bad our revenue would certainly continue to put us the list.
Jabil previously announced its 2005 statements were unreliable and it expected to record about $54.3 million in incremental non-cash stock-related compensation charges for fiscal 1996 through 2005. About $48.9 million of the charges relate to options granted to employees who were not company executives or board directors.
Jabil is cooperating with the SEC in its ongoing investigation.
+ Clarification
In an April 5 story, developer Wayne Morehead said the city requested information regarding the cost for the affordable housing units at his City Pointe project. Morehead did not initiate a request for a city subsidy. The city requested that Morehead submit estimates for what would be required of the city. "We wanted to see what the numbers look like and what he is looking for," said interim City Manager Peter Schneider. Ultimately, the decision regarding funding would be up to the City Commission.
+ What's ahead
May 8 - The Real Estate Investment Society will host State Rep. Trudi Williams who will discuss property insurance and taxes. The luncheon begins at 11:30 a.m. in the Magnolia Room of the Pelican Preserve Town Center in Fort Myers. Cost is $25 for members and $35 for guests. To reserve, visit www.reis-swfl.org or call Sharon Heston at 239-410-1253.
Your free article limit has been reached this month.
Subscribe now for unlimited digital access to our award-winning business news.
Join thousands of executives who rely on us for insights spanning Tampa Bay to Naples.
