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AutoNation Inc. is still top dog among Florida public companies. The car dealership chain's nearly $20-billion in annual revenues once again led the list of Florida's top 250 public companies compiled annually by Florida Trend magazine.
While AutoNation had the largest revenues, the cruise line Carnival Corp. recorded the biggest profit at $1-billion. On the other hand, Spherion Corp., a personnel outsourcing company, lost nearly that much.
The three largest employers are all in the food business. Darden Restaurants Inc. of Orlando, which owns Red Lobster and Olive Garden Restaurants, ranked No. 1, with 133,200 employees. Winn-Dixie Stores Inc. and Outback Steakhouse Inc. came in second and third. Combined, the 250 companies employ 982,000 people and had $182-billion in sales.
The results, published in Trend's July issue and available on its Web site (www.floridatrend.com) are based on 2002 numbers. Florida Trend is an affiliate of the St. Petersburg Times.