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COVER STORY - June 2002 by Claude Hammond
To compare 2002’s list of Kentucky’s 25 top publicly-held companies with previous years’ version of the list, you get a quick lesson in how business has changed. You can almost hear the auctioneer’s cry of “Going, going, gone!” when looking at the soon-to-be defunct ticker symbols for AREA Bank and Mid-America Bancorp. The two companies have been purchased by regional banking giant BB&T. Yet, financial institutions continue to have a strong role among Kentucky’s largest and most visible companies. In fact, if one were to list the 50 largest companies in the Bluegrass State, banks would dominate the list beyond the top 25. The largest bank headquartered in the state, Pikeville-headquartered Community Trust Bancorp, is 16th in terms of total revenue among all Kentucky companies, with more than $200 million. Other banks making the list include Louisville’s Stockyards Bank and Republic Bancorp, along with Frankfort’s Farmers Capital Bank. All of them have proven to give fairly healthy returns to investors over the long term, though the champ for a one-year investment is within the technology sector. Forget about the dot-bombs of 2001 when you consider Sypris Systems. The Louisville-based company brought back a whopping return in the 230 percent range to its stockholders. Another technology investment that created happy stockholders is Paducah’s CSI, whose stock increased somewhere in the 110 percent range over the last 12 months. These are niche companies just hitting their stride in the tech sector. Other Kentucky tech stocks haven’t done quite as well, even thought the companies remain solid. Computer printer maker Lexmark has seen its stock value decline about nine percent over the last year. This decline is largely due to the overall national economy and to the fact that Lexmark makes products for a broad, less-specialized market that’s been somewhat stagnant. But don’t count Lexmark out. Their commitment to R&D is stronger than its competition and is likely to bring about exciting new products. Among Kentucky’s biggest companies, YUM! Brands (formerly Tricon) has an impressive story to tell. YUM! beat the daylights out of most analyst predictions, bringing in a return in the neighborhood of 50 percent over the last year. Owning such established restaurant chains as KFC, Taco Bell and Pizza Hut, the restaurant giant continued to innovate with multi-brand stores and the purchase of Lexington’s Yorkshire Global Restaurants, owner of A&W and Long John Silver’s restaurants. A big part of YUM!’s success has been increased sales in their international units, something overlooked by most Wall Street analysts. Restaurant and food companies based in Kentucky overall provided a healthy performance for their stockholders. The state’s other pizza-making giant, Louisville’s Papa John’s International, provided a healthy return in the neighborhood of 16 percent to stockholders. So Kentucky’s companies have mirrored state changes in the economy and business. Banks are becoming ever more vital. The tech sector is still important, but the niche marketers in technology are doing best while those selling to broad markets are weathering the end of the storm. Though there are fewer big manufacturers, that sector continues to prosper in Kentucky, especially when combined with smart marketing. All of this mirrors
the shift taking place in the national economy. Kentucky will remain
unique with traditional industries among its top companies, such as
Churchill Downs and Brown-Forman, yet the challenge of new industries
will put new landmarks on the state’s economic landscape.
Almost Family, Inc. provides
housing alternatives for seniors and other adults with special needs.
Ashland’s primary business
is refining crude oil and producing specialty chemicals. It also produces
automotive products and owns the APAC highway construction firm. Brown-Forman manufactures,
markets and distributes alcoholic beverages, including Jack Daniel’s,
Woodford Reserve, Canadian Mist and Southern Comfort liquors. Churchill Downs Inc. is one
of the world’s leading horse racing companies. Its flagship operation,
Churchill Downs, has hosted the Kentucky Derby for more than 125 years.
Commonwealth Industries,
Inc. manufactures aluminum sheets for distributors and the transportation,
construction and consumer durables end-use markets. Community Trust Bancorp,
Inc., the largest Kentucky-based bank, is a holding company headquartered
in Pikeville. The company has banking locations across eastern and central
Kentucky and in West Virginia. Delta Natural Gas Company
purchases, produces and stores gas for distribution to its 39,000 retail
customers and provides transportation service to industrial customers. DMI Furniture, Inc. manufactures,
imports, and markets globally a variety of low- to medium-priced furniture
products. Farmers Capital Bank Corporation
is a multi-bank holding company headquartered in Frankfort. The company
operates banking locations in communities throughout Central Kentucky,
a leasing company, a data processing company and an insurance company. First Federal Financial Corporation
of Kentucky is a financial services holding company and is the corporate
parent of First Federal Savings Bank of Elizabethtown. General Cable Corporation
designs, develops, manufactures, markets and distributes copper, aluminum
and fiber optic wire and cable. The company’s Communications Group
makes and sells wire and cable products for voice, data and video transmission
as well as cable for computer and telephone use. Genlyte Group, Inc. designs,
manufactures, markets and sells lighting fixtures for the commercial,
industrial and residential markets. Humana Inc. offers a wide
range of healthcare and health insurance products. The company is one
of America’s largest publicly traded managed healthcare corporations. Kentucky Electric Steel owns
and operates a steel mini-mill near Ashland. The company primarily manufactures
special bar quality steel bar flats that are sold to a variety of small
volume niche markets, such as the leaf-spring suspension market for
trucks and vans. Kentucky Investors, Inc.
is the holding company of Investors Heritage Life Insurance Co.; Investors
Heritage Printing, Inc. and Investors Heritage Financial Services Group,
Inc. Lexmark develops, manufactures
and supplies laser, inkjet and dot matrix printers worldwide. The company
also produces a variety of imaging products and components for home
and commercial use printers. National Processing, Inc.
provides low-cost, high-volume transaction processing services and customized
processing solutions, including card transactions, check transactions
and administrative and financial functions for corporations seeking
to reduce overhead costs. NS Group manufactures steel
tubing, wire and adhesive products for energy products, special bar
quality (SBQ) products and industrial adhesives. The company’s
energy products segment makes specialized tubular steel used in the
energy industry – primarily for oil and natural gas drilling and
production. Omnicare, Inc. provides pharmacy
services to long-term care institutions such as skilled nursing facilities,
assisted living communities and other institutional healthcare facilities.
Papa John’s International,
Inc. operates and franchises pizza delivery and carryout restaurants.
Premier Financial Bancorp,
Inc. is a multi-bank holding company operating in Kentucky, Ohio and
West Virginia. Republic Bancorp, Inc. is
the holding company for Republic Bank & Trust Company. The bank
operates in north central and central Kentucky. Res-Care, Inc. provides residential,
training, educational and support services to populations with special
needs, including adults and youths with mental retardation and emotional
disorders. Steel Technologies Inc. processes
flat-rolled steel to specified close tolerances for industrial customers
who require steel of precise precise dimensions for manufacturing purposes.
S.Y. Bancorp, Inc. is a holding
company for Stock Yards Bank & Trust Company, which has banking
centers in Kentucky and Southern Indiana. Sypris Solutions, Inc.’s
products include integrated data acquisition, storage and analysis systems,
magnetic instruments, current sensors and high pressure closures. Sypris’
technical services include engineering, manufacturing, testing and calibration
capabilities. Thomas Industries, Inc.
manufactures spraying machines, blowers and air compressors as well
as other tools, hardware and specialty products. Trover Solutions is the new
name of the corporation formerly known as Healthcare Recoveries. The
name Healthcare Recoveries is now used only with respect to Trover Solutions
health insurance recovery operations, which includes subrogation, hospital
bill audit and overpayment recovery services. Trover Solutions has two
other operating divisions: Troveris, which sells subrogation recovery
software, in an ASP model, to both health care payors and property and
casualty insurers; and TransPaC Solutions, which sells subrogation recovery
services to property and casualty insurers. Tumbleweed, Inc. operates
a chain of casual dining restaurants under the Tumbleweed Southwest
Mesquite Grill & Bar (Tumbleweed) concept. Ventas, Inc. is a real estate
company that owns or leases 45 hospitals (comprised of two acute care
hospitals and 43 long-term acute care hospitals), 218 nursing facilities
and eight personal care facilities in 36 states. YUM! Brands owns or franchises
approximately 32,000 quick service restaurants worldwide. The company’s
restaurants include Pizza Hut, KFC and Taco Bell, which sell pizza,
chicken and Mexican dishes, respectively. YUM has recently acquired
Yorkshire Global Restaurants, adding A&W and Long John Silver’s
restaurants to its portfolio.
Claude Hammond is editorial
director of The Lane Report. |
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Copyright 1996-2002, by Kentucky Business Online. All rights reserved. Editorial content
is copyright 2002, Lane Communications Group The Lane Report is a trademark of Lane Communications Group. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. |
Almost
Family (Nasdaq: AFAM)
Ashland
Inc. (NYSE: ASH)
Brown-Forman
Corp. (NYSE: BF/B)
Churchill
Downs (Nasdaq: CHDN)
Commonwealth
Industries
Community
Trust Bancorp (Nasdaq: CTBI)
Delta
Natural Gas Co. (Nasdaq: DGAS)
DMI
Furniture (Nasdaq: DMIF)
Farmers
Capital Bank (Nasdaq: FFKT)
First
Federal Financial Ky. (Nasdaq: FFKY)
General
Cable Corp. (NYSE: BGC)
The
Genlyte Group (Nasdaq: GLYT)
Humana
Inc. (NYSE: HUM)
Kentucky
Electric Steel Inc. (Nasdaq: KESI)
Kentucky
Investors Inc. (OTC BB: KINV.OB)
Lexmark
International Group (NYSE: LXK)
National
Processing Inc. (NYSE: NAP)
NS
Group Inc. (NYSE: NSS)
Omnicare
(NYSE: OCR)
Papa
John’s International, Inc. (Nasdaq: PZZA)
Premier
Financial Bancorp (Nasdaq: PFBI)
Republic
Bancorp, Inc. (Nasdaq: RBCA)
Res-Care,
Inc. (Nasdaq: RSCR)
Steel
Technologies, Inc. (Nasdaq: STTX)
SY
Bancorp (AMEX: SYI) 
Sypris
Solutions (Nasdaq: SYPR) 
Thomas
Industries (NTSE: TTI)
Trover
Solutions (Nasdaq: TROV)
Tumbleweed,
Inc. (Nasdaq/NM: TWED)
Ventas,
Inc. (NYSE: VTR) 
YUM!
Brands (NYSE: YUM)
