Progress Software Corporation (PSC), the parent company of Progress Software SA, has been named to this year`s Forbes 200 Best Small Companies list. The company was also ranked 86th on the Forbes five-year average return on equity (ROE) list, with an average 17% over the past five years.
The annual list is a compilation of financially successful small-cap businesses and only companies with balance sheets that indicate sustainability over the long-term, despite a rough economy, qualify.
According to the October 2002 issue of Forbes magazine, the criteria used to screen candidates looked only at companies with latest 12-month sales of $5 million to $600 million, a stock price above $5 per share and five-year average ROE of at least 5%. Growth notwithstanding, profitability was a must and every nominee had to earn a net margin of at least 5%, excluding extraordinary and non-recurring items. A new feature this year: relative stock price strength. The idea was to help flag companies that were doing particularly well or poorly relative to their peers and the market indexes.
Sharing honours with Progress were Citrix Systems, Krispy Kreme Donuts, Mercury Computer Systems and Yankee Candle. Progress was also named to Fortune Magazine`s 50 Small-Cap Stocks to Watch listing earlier this year. The list was comprised of companies in several different industries. Healthcare-related companies made up 25% of the list, retail and apparel companies accounted for 7.5%, food and restaurant businesses were 6% of companies listed, but technology companies only made up 12.5% of the list, down from 16% last year.
"Progress Software is delighted that Forbes recognises its long-standing financial stability and its long-term viability," says Rick Parry, MD of Progress Software SA. "The ranking in the ROE category is a testament to the high productivity of Progress`s employees and approach to managing a global company."
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