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Energy giant E.ON remains at the summit of Midlands Business Insider’s Top 500 table for the second consecutive year. The Coventry-based company secured the number one spot in Insider’s annual list, which also names Wolverhampton-based construction company Carillion and Birmingham engineer IMI in the top ten performing companies in the region.

The Top 500 table is devised by measuring the performance of companies by a combination of their turnover and profitability.

E.On’s place at the top was secured after selling its 'Central Networks' division to US-based utility business PPL for £3.5bn. The company also recently revealed plans to sell off more than £12bn of its business to cut debt and create an expansion plan.

Construction giant Carillion enters the listing – which features both East and West Midlands-based companies – at number four. The company reported pre-tax profits of £167.9m in its annual results in March, a 24 per cent rise on its 2009 figures.

Chairman Philip Rogerson said: "Carillion performed well in 2010, building on its strong track record to deliver good earnings growth, despite tough market conditions, particularly in the UK. Looking forward, we expect the global economic environment to continue to make trading conditions difficult, especially in our UK markets. However, Carillion has a resilient and well-balanced business mix, good revenue visibility and a record pipeline of contract opportunities.”

AAH Pharmaceuticals, based in Coventry, entered at number six after securing a pre-tax profit of £111m in its latest annual results. Severn Trent, also based in Coventry, was at number seven.

Birmingham engineer IMI entered at number eight, a huge leap from its 2010 placing of 389.

Packing company Linpac, based in Birmingham, soared from number 450 in 2010 to number ten in the latest list. Earlier this year, Linpac sold five non-core, unrelated business units to funds managed by Chamonix Private Equity, a London-based private equity firm.

Also inside the top 20 were Birmingham’s Phoenix Life; Wolseley, based in Leamington Spa and Rugby-based Alstom, which this week was granted £4m funding from the government’s Regional Growth Fund.

Graham Muth, partner and head of the Birmingham office of law firm Cobbetts, said: “Slow and steady improvement has been the story over the last 12 months, and this national trend has set the backdrop for the Midlands’ recovery.

“Our manufacturing businesses are still finding it tough, but possibly better times are ahead. George Osborne’s announcement that three of the 21 new enterprise zones will be located in the Midlands will give the sector a much-needed boost.”

The complete Top 500 table can be found in this month’s edition of Midlands Business Insider.