DRS, Dain Raucher top ranked with strong gains in ’99 profits

The power to turn a profit in Boulder County remained primarily in the hands of high-tech application and manufacturing firms in 1999.

The only company to continue on the list of top earners is San Francisco-based McKesson HBOC Inc., a health-care service and distribution company that owns Broomfield-based Access Health Group. The company, which led The Boulder County Business Reports’ Top 10 list last year, hit No. 7 this year. McKesson earned $723,700 in fiscal year 2000 ending March 31, compared with $84,900 in 1999.

New Jersey-based DRS Technologies Inc., a military electronic systems designer and manufacturer, overtakes the list with a 10,885.6 percent profit growth rate. Net income rose to $700 million in 1999 from $6.4 million in 1998. DRS had located its electronics operations in Longmont but recently it moved the manufacturing operations to a new facility in Johnstown, Penn. and engineering operations to Gaithersburg, Md. “for improved operating efficiencies in the corporation,” says Patricia Williamson, vice president of corporate communications and investor relations.

Leading Boulder County-based firms in earnings growth is Broomfield’s Ball Corp., a packaging and aerospace technology company, at No. 8.

A company holding a 35 percent market share of anything is bound to do well, but the nation’s largest beverage container producer is booming, with a 527.7 percent earnings growth rate from 1998 to 1999. Earnings grew primarily due to the company’s focus on trimming operating expenses by consolidating its operations and closing acquired plants it doesn’t need, says David Hoover, vice chairman, president and chief operating officer.

The 30-year veteran of the company credits much of the company’s strength in the 1998 to 1999 fiscal season to the 1998 acquisition of Reynolds Metal Co.

Another important move at beginning of 2000 was a partnership formed in February with ConAgra Grocery Products Co., a unit of ConAgra, Inc. (NYSE: CAG), in which Ball manufactures and supplies ConAgra’s food cans. The partnership became known as a joint venture called Ball Western Can Co., and Ball will supply about 1 billion cans per year.

Ball’s packaging division makes up about 90 percent of its revenues and earnings.

The company hopes to soon augment its earnings further with the introduction of plastic beer containers, Hoover says, as well as increase commercial sales in its aerospace technology unit.

“We have a huge opportunity to trade on what is a wonderful set of technologies, and we’re working hard to figure out how to unlock the value there,” Hoover says, adding that Ball owns a 10 percent share in Longmont-based EarthWatch Inc., and is looking to market a new satellite technology developed there that can pinpoint areas on Earth within one meter.

Ball is of one of two Boulder County-based firms making the list with wireless phone systems company SpectraLink Corp. of Boulder being the other. SpectraLink closes out the list with a 276.2 percent growth rate in net earnings.

Other companies included on the list are: California-based technology firms 3Com Corp., Adaptec Inc., Seagate Technology Inc. and Sybase Inc. Minneapolis-based commercial financier Dain Rauscher Corp. hits No. 2 with a 7,325 percent earnings growth rate, and Massachusetts-based defense technologies firm Helix Technology Corp. is No. 5 with a 936.8 percent growth rate.

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