82 BCBusiness july 2015
Why, then, is B.C. doing well? The
answer lies in the province's diversity,
as a glance at this year's Top 100 com-
panies shows. Selling everything from
chickens to chicken wire, B.C.'s biggest
companies peddle a wide enough vari-
ety of products that when one sector
is down, another two can pick up the
slack. Total revenues for the Top 100
companies grew 6.5 per cent last year—
compared to 5.4 per cent in 2013—reach-
ing an aggregate $159.7 billion. Also up is
the minimum revenues threshold to be
considered a Top 100 company, which
has climbed steadily since 2010 and now
sits at $271.1 million.
Perhaps surprisingly, this growth
was driven in part by miners. While
many commodity prices took a beat-
ing—with giants Teck Resources and
Silver Wheaton among the biggest
losers in terms of revenues—newcomer
Turquoise Hill Resources debuted
on our list with $1.8 billion in rev-
enues as production came on stream,
showing that the sector still has legs.
Similarly, a buoyant real estate sector
saw Concert Properties return to the list
as its revenues doubled, while insurer
Travelers Financial Group saw 43.7
per cent growth. Among the list's be-
hemoths, losses at resource-dependent
companies such as Teck were more
than made up for by ongoing growth
at top-ranked Telus, with $12 billion in
revenues, the Jim Pattison Group, at $8.4
billion, and BC Hydro, at $5.4 billion.
Consolidation—driven by com-
petition both here and abroad—has
squeezed several mid-tier companies
whIle many
commodity prices
took a beating,
newCOmer TurquOISe
hIll reSOurCeS debuTed
On Our lIST wITh
$1.8
billion in revenues
aS prOduCTIOn Came
On STream
