Not sure if this is encouraging or not - what do you think? :
Wednesday October 21, 8:02 am Eastern Time
Company Press Release SOURCE: Gentex Corporation
Gentex Ranked 57th on Forbes' '200
Best Small Companies in America' List
ZEELAND, Mich., Oct. 21 /PRNewswire/ -- For the third consecutive year, and the fourth time in the past five years, Gentex
Corporation, the world leader in the manufacture of automatic-dimming mirrors for the auto industry, has been named to Forbes
magazine's prestigious list of the ''200 Best
Small Companies in America.'' The announcement comes in the magazine's November 2, 1998,issue. Gentex previously was
named to this list in 1994, 1996 and 1997.
Forbes' annual list of the ''200 Best Small Companies in America'' evaluates publicly traded,U.S.-based companies with latest
12-month sales between $5 million and $350 million. They are then ranked according to their five- year average return on equity
and various other measures of profitability and growth. To make the list this year, companies needed to have had a five-year
average return on equity of at least 12 percent, and five-year average sales and earnings per share growth of at least 10 percent.
Forbes ranked Gentex 10th in profits, 7th in market value, 62nd in sales, and 93rd in five-year average return on equity. The
magazine also states that Gentex's five-year average return on equity is 21 percent, and that the Company has posted five-year
average sales and earnings per share growth of 30 percent and 34 percent, respectively. The Company is debt free.
''It's certainly an honor to be named one of the best small companies in America,'' said Gentex
Executive Vice President Kenneth La Grand. ''But we're particularly proud that we moved up 54
spots over last year's ranking, especially considering the recent volatility that has characterized our
industry and the market in general. For us, it confirms the strategies we have in place to maximize
long-term shareholder value.'' |
