Georgia corporations and their executives fared much better than their stockholders in 2005. But for stockholders of the 10 companies at the top of the latest Georgia 100 list, it was a very good year.

As a group, the 10 posted a total return of 104 percent on their investments, and individually the total returns ranged from 501 percent — for No. 2 Citi Trends, a Savannah-based retailer of urban fashions — to a very respectable 34 percent for No. 9 Savannah Bancorp, a two-state bank holding company.

BITA HONARVAR/Staff (ENLARGE)

Richard A. Hubbell is chief executive of No. 1-ranked RPC Inc., which moved up from second place on last year's list. RPC is a major service company for inland and offshore oil and gas operations.

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One feature of the latest top 10 list was the rise in the ranks of very big companies, as measured by market value (share price times shares outstanding).

Six of the 10 have market values of more than $1 billion, ranging from almost $5 billion for No. 10 Equifax, an Atlanta-headquartered credit information company, to $1.3 billion for No. 6 Arris Group, a telecom equipment company in Suwanee.

But while business benefited from an overall good economy in 2005, that alone doesn't account for the performances of these companies. Somebody made the right management decisions along the way, did the smart thing and was perceptive enough to take advantage of opportunities as they occurred.

That their shareholders did well in 2005 was an achievement, since most sectors of the market did not, SunTrust Robinson Humphrey quantitative analyst Gary Tapp said.

"The market was fairly narrow in 2005 in terms of stock price performance. Two sectors dominated: energy, which was up 29 percent, and utilities, 12.8 percent," said Tapp. "That was virtually all the strength there was."

That helps account for the No. 1 company: Atlanta-based RPC, which moved up from the No. 2 spot on last year's list as a major service company for inland and offshore oil and natural gas operations, such as consulting, specialized tools and equipment, and emergency services.

Propelled by rising energy demand, RPC's profit from operations surged 90 percent in 2005 on a 25.9 percent revenue increase, and its shareholders enjoyed a total return on their investment of 138.4 percent.

No. 7 Beazer Homes USA — the only Fortune 500 company in the top 10 — is the other repeat performer from the 2005 list, moving up from eighth place on the crest of the U.S. housing boom. Beazer, which is profiled elsewhere in this section, builds houses for the middle-class buyer looking for a first or move-up house.

Thanks to the prolonged housing boom, Beazer has been in the top 10 five times since 2001, missing only the list published in 2003.

As usual, the latest top 10 list is a mix of big and small, new and old, with no dominant pattern in terms of industry groups.

But two things are prominent: the number of companies that deal in consumer credit in one form or another, and the predominance of companies in niche markets.

A favorable economy has helped two companies that specialize in serving consumers whose credit doesn't meet the standards of traditional business: No. 3 AssuranceAmerica in automobile insurance and No. 4 CompuCredit in credit cards.

AssuranceAmerica, a top 10 company on the 2004 list, specializes in nonstandard auto insurance, with operations in Georgia, Florida, South Carolina, Alabama and Texas. The company, which posted a loss in 2004, turned a profit in 2005 and crossed the $100 million threshold in controlled premiums last year.

"While our company has a competitive spirit and likes to beat others in the same business, our greater goal is to beat ourselves," President and Chief Executive Lawrence "Bud" Stumbaugh said in announcing first-quarter 2006 results.

CompuCredit — also profiled elsewhere in this section — markets and services branded credit cards and related products to consumers who, the company explains, "may have been overlooked by other traditional providers of consumer credit." This is CompuCredit's third time in the top 10. It was also on the 2000 and 2004 lists.

Two of the top 10 companies make buying on credit possible for everybody: No. 5 Global Payments, which produces software and equipment that facilitates point-of-sale credit card transactions, and Equifax, which is one of the nation's largest providers of consumer credit information to retailers and other business.

In essence, Global Payments makes sure your credit card transaction goes through all right. The company performs credit card, debit card and check authorization services for retailers and financial institutions. It is also in the business of electronically transferring money between government and private clients. This company is also profiled in this section.

Equifax is the granddaddy of the top 10 companies, founded in 1899. It is one of the nation's largest credit reporting agencies and maintains information on more than 400 million people worldwide. The company also provides credit card marketing and fraud detection services in more than a dozen countries.

Credit is also at the heart of the banking business, and Savannah Bancorp has the additional advantage of serving the fast-growing coastal region of Georgia and South Carolina. It is the holding company for the Savannah Bank and Bryan Bank & Trust in Savannah and Harbourside Community Bank in South Carolina. Real estate mortgage loans make up about two-thirds of Savannah Bancorp's loan portfolio, reflecting the region's expansion.

Savannah-based Citi Trends is a new/old company and a good example of a company that found success in niche marketing — in this case urban fashions primarily for the African-American market with 200 stores in 12 states. Founded in 1946 as Allied Department Stores, its public stock offering was in May 2005.

No. 8 SunLink Health Systems specializes in owning and managing community hospitals in Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi and Missouri, as well as nursing homes and home-health agencies. Each SunLink facility is the only hospital in its community, Chief Executive Robert M. Thornton Jr. said in announcing the Atlanta-based company's financial results.

SunLink has attracted the attention of merger and acquisition sppecialists and has received two acquisition offers. The company in December hired SunTrust Robinson Humphrey to evaluate its "strategic alternatives," which it said could include a sale, merger or acquisition.

Thornton said the company's business plan "is sound and is working," but that "it is in the best interests of the company's shareholders" to consider other strategic alternatives.

Arris Group makes equipment and components that make it possible to transmit voice and data in high-speed networks, and in television broadcasting. This includes gear for cable networks, switching systems, modems and other consumer products and software. Its market is mainly cable operators and local and long-distance companies.

Under its former identity as Antex, the company ranked third on the Georgia 100 list published in 2000, based on 1999 operations.