Low-priced stocks posted the biggest gains among the St. Louis-area companies ranked in this year's Annual Report.

Savvis Communications Corp. led the way, with its stock nearly quadrupling in price for the 12 months ended April 30. Savvis, an Internet hosting and service company, saw its stock rise 369.8 percent to $2.02 a share.

It had record revenue in its most recently completed fiscal year. Savvis, with headquarters in Town and Country, broadened its customer base and recently acquired Cable & Wireless America, which will add $400 million in revenue and double its size.

Reliv International Inc., which led last year's list of biggest gainers, kept that momentum going and claimed the No. 2 spot this time. The company's shares rose 214.2 percent.

Reliv, of Chesterfield, makes nutritional supplements, diet products and sports drinks, selling them through a network of U.S. and foreign distributors. Its earnings jumped 76.4 percent last year.

The top six companies in the stock-performance ranking illustrated a larger trend in the market: All began the 12-month measurement period as cheap stocks, trading for well below $5 a share.

For the past year or more, low-priced stocks have performed better than blue chips, as measured by the Dow Jones industrial average and Standard & Poor's 500 index.

All the top 15 companies on the list posted gains more than three times as large as the Dow and S&P increases.

Anheuser-Busch Cos. remained the most valuable company in the St. Louis area, despite its second consecutive drop in market capitalization. The brewery giant's shares had a combined worth of nearly $42.9 billion April 30, off 2.3 percent from a year earlier.

A-B remained far ahead of the next-closest company, Emerson, which had a market value of $25.4 billion.


Losers




Only two of the public companies in the Post-Dispatch ranking suffered declines in their stock price, a testament to the resurgent strength of the market.

The two losers were MEMC Electronic Materials Inc. of St. Peters, whose shares skidded 32.8 percent, and LMI Aerospace Inc. of St. Charles, whose shares fell 22.7 percent.

MEMC makes silicon wafers for computer chips, a market that was hit hard in the economic downturn. Though it has been making progress on a reorganization, its stock price has yet to reflect the improvement.

LMI, which makes parts for planes and other products, has been struggling with a drop in orders. It posted a loss for the second straight year.




Rebounds




Two of the companies whose shares rose the most were among the biggest losers a year ago.

Huttig Building Products Inc. of Town and Country was third in the ranking this year with a 191.3 percent increase. Its shares were down 57.7 percent in the preceding 12 months.

Charter Communications Inc. of Town and Country was fifth on the gainers list with an increase of 138.1 percent. The company's shares were off 80.9 percent in the corresponding period a year earlier, when it was hurt by a heavy debt load and a Securities and Exchange Commission probe into accounting.

Reporter Christopher Carey
E-mail: ccarey@post-dispatch.com
Phone: 314-340-8291