Wal-Mart now the biggest company in the world _ and bankrupt Enron isn't far behind

NEW YORK (AP) _ It started out 40 years ago as a discount retailer that carved out a niche in small-town America by selling everything from toothpaste to toys. <br><br>Now, Wal-Mart Stores Inc. is the

Monday, April 1st 2002, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

NEW YORK (AP) _ It started out 40 years ago as a discount retailer that carved out a niche in small-town America by selling everything from toothpaste to toys.

Now, Wal-Mart Stores Inc. is the biggest company in the world on the annual Fortune 500 list with nearly $220 billion in revenues.

Wal-Mart, No. 2 on the list a year ago, overtook oil giant Exxon Mobil Corp. in the rankings compiled on the basis of companies' annual revenue figures. The retailer's ascendancy was expected after both companies issued their 2001 results earlier this year.

The list, published in the Fortune issue that reaches newsstands April 8, did have some surprises, most notably the appearance of bankrupt Enron Corp., which moved up two notches to No. 5 despite its downward spiral into bankruptcy.

Carol Loomis, a member of Fortune's board of editors, said Enron made the list because the magazine used Enron's restated earnings from Jan. 1 to Sept. 30, which gave it revenues of $139 billion. The company's bankruptcy filing on Dec. 2 didn't make in ineligible for consideration, and the company has yet to report fourth-quarter results.

The magazine also took into account the fact that energy companies are permitted to list the gross value of energy trading contracts as revenues _ a fact that enabled other energy companies to rise quickly in the Fortune 500.

From its founding four decades ago, Wal-Mart has seen its annual revenues and sales surge, going from $1 billion in sales for all of 1979 to sometimes making that much in a single day last year. The Bentonville, Ark.-based company remained the company with most employees on the list, with more than 1.2 million workers worldwide.

The list of the largest publicly held companies has been compiled annually since 1955 by the editors of Fortune. GM, which had held the top spot on the list for 15 years until 2000, stayed at No. 3 with revenues of $177.26 billion.

Despite Exxon Mobil's slip to No. 2, energy companies fared well in 2001, with ChevronTexaco at No. 8, rising from No. 20 because of the merger of Chevron Corp. and Texaco Inc.

Mergers lifted other companies, including AOL Time Warner Inc., which jumped to 37th place from 271 thanks to the combination of Time Warner and America Online. The company had $38.23 billion in revenues, making it the largest Internet and entertainment company on the annual list.

The top 10 also included Ford Motor Co. at No. 4, a position it held last year. General Electric Co. dropped one place to No. 6, while Citigroup Inc., the largest financial services company in the nation, fell to No. 7 from No. 6.

Total profits for the 500 corporations fell 53 percent to $206 billion, compared with 2000's 8.4 percent increase. The magazine's editors said it was the largest drop in profits since the magazine started compiling the list.

Revenue grew by 3 percent to a combined $7.4 trillion, compared with $7.2 trillion in 2000.