By Justin Bachman
The Associated Press

LOCALS ON THE LIST

Rank this year, rank last year, revenue in billions: 18. Kroger Co., Cincinnati, (22), $51.760 31. Procter & Gamble Co., Cincinnati, (35), $40.238 122. Federated Department Stores, Cincinnati, (118), $15.435 160. Cinergy Inc., Cincinnati, (158), $11.990 239. Ashland Inc., Covington, (225), $7.792 278. Fifth Third Bancorp, Cincinnati, (283), $6.324 376. AK Steel Holding, Middletown, (409), $4.340 424. American Financial Group, Cincinnati, (418), $3.750 See the full list

NEW YORK - Wal-Mart Stores Inc. solidified its position atop the Fortune 500 rankings as the nation's need for affordable staples boosted the retailer's revenue in 2002.

Wal-Mart held the top spot for a second consecutive year on the list, which ranks publicly traded companies based on their revenues for the year. Fortune editors conjectured that the discount merchant's worldwide growth might help it secure the position permanently.

The magazine's annual rankings showed the usual trading of spots in the top 5. At No. 2 was General Motors Corp., which rose from No. 3, switching places with Exxon Mobil Corp. Ford Motor Co. retained fourth place and General Electric Co. moved up one to fifth.

Enron Corp., the energy trader that made it to No. 5 in the previous list, dropped off after filing for bankruptcy.

Two financial powers were among the 2002 top 10. Citigroup moved up one spot to sixth, and American International Group gained three spots to ninth. ChevronTexaco Corp. was seventh, IBM eighth and Verizon Communications Inc. 10th. Each moved up a spot from the 2001 list.

The list of the largest publicly held companies has been compiled annually since 1955 by the editors of Fortune. The latest rankings are published in the magazine's April 14 issue.

Profits for the 500 plunged 66 percent to a collective $69.6 billion after a record drop in 2001. The magazine's editors said the latest decline was largely caused by accounting changes, which have made many companies far more conservative in their financial reporting. But the effects of the sluggish economy were nonetheless apparent - aggregate revenue slid for only the sixth time in the list's 49-year history, down 6 percent to $6.95 trillion.

Wal-Mart, however, saw revenue increase 12 percent to $246.5 billion, $60 billion ahead of GM.

"Wal-Mart has done more than retain its title as king of the mountain. It is rewriting notions of how big corporations are supposed to behave," Fortune writes in its introduction to the list, which appears in the April 14 issue.