KUALA LUMPUR: Six listed Malaysian companies have made it to Forbes Asia's inaugural Best Over A Billion list.
They are Batu Kawan Bhd, Hap Seng Consolidated Bhd, IHH Healthcare Bhd, Kuala Lumpur Kepong Bhd, Press Metal Aluminium Holdings Bhd and Public Bank Bhd.
Forbes Asia, in a statement today, said the inaugural list spotlights 200 top-performing listed companies across Asia Pacific with revenues of US$1 billion or more.
The list complements the long-established Best Under A Billion list of the 200 best-performing, small and mid-sized companies in Asia-Pacific with less than US$1 billion in revenue.
The two lists now comprehensively cover all of Asia Pacific’s listed companies, selecting the best 400 from the smallest to the biggest, using US$1 billion in sales as a dividing line.
Forbes Asia said from a universe of 3,200 listed companies in the region, candidates for the Best Over A Billion list were evaluated based on more than a dozen metrics. This included their average five-year sales, operating income growth, return on capital, and projected growth over the next one to two years.
Those having the highest composite score earned a place in the final list of 200,
The goal was to find the region’s best-run companies that are doing well on not just one metric but across many of them, Forbes Asia added.
“Therefore, the result was a list that represented the best of Asia-Pacific’s big companies.”
The biggest companies on the list by market value hail from the technology sector and the region’s largest markets.
They included internet behemoths Alibaba and Tencent, as well as semiconductor giants Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. and SK Hynix.
Fast Retailing, operator of the Uniqlo apparel chain founded by Japanese billionaire Tadashi Yanai, was among the 10 largest companies on the list by market value.
Industries that dominate the list include retail, real estate, banking, transportation as well as food and beverage manufacturing.
The list also highlighted the connection between the companies and members of Forbes Asia’s rich lists.
“The Best Over A Billion list provides an incredible insight into which are Asia’s best-run big companies.
Nearly two thirds of the companies on this list are controlled by or connected to families or individuals who have appeared on Forbes Asia’s rich lists,” said Forbes Asia editor Justin Doebele.
The full list is available at www.forbes.com/bob and in the September issue of Forbes Asia.