Eight local firms make Forbes’ best under billion list

SINGAPORE: Eight Malaysian companies have made it to Forbes Asia’s fifth annual “Best Under A Billion” list.

The eight represent a mix of industries, namely marine transportation, technology, cosmetics, food processing, paper products, electricals and palm oil.

They are Coastal Contracts Bhd, Efficient E-Solutions Bhd, Hai-O Enterprise Bhd, ETI Tech Corp Bhd, Kumpulan Fima Bhd, NTPM Holdings Bhd, Success Transformer Corp Bhd and YNH Property Bhd.

Overall, China and Hong Kong small- and mid-size firms dominated this year’s list with 78 companies compared with 63 last year.

“Relative economic strength on the mainland played a part, as does an increasing presence of retailing, apparel, web advertising and healthcare.

“Following behind is Japan with 24 companies, while South Korea has 23. In fourth place is India with 20 entries, followed by Australia with 18,” said Forbes in a statement yesterday

The “Best Under A Billion” list, which appears on the Sept 21 issue of Forbes Asia, picks the top-performing 200 firms from over 12,000 publicly-listed companies with sales of under US$1bil in the Asia-Pacific region.

They were vetted for consistent growth of both sales and profits over three years, modest indebtedness and future prospects.

Sixty-four of the entries on this year’s list are returnees where all have either increased their sales and profits in the past 12 months or are forecast to do so in the quarters to come.

Retail, media, technology and healthcare led the sectors that dominate the list.

Forbes said consumerism was once again a key driving force behind most of the companies in the list. One hundred and two firms on the list are consumer related, up from 78 in 2008 and 67 in the inaugural edition in 2005.

“A prominent returnee from last year is Soft-World International, Taiwan’s largest developer and distributor of online games.

The company, featured in the latest issue of Forbes Asia, chalked up five months of record sales while Taiwan suffered its worst-ever recession following the onset of global economic crisis last September.

“Also banking on consumer spending is Japanese firm Dr Ci:Labo, one of 136 new entries on this year’s list,” said Forbes.

Another newcomer is Fujian-based farm exporter China Green. The company’s market capitalisation is up more than four times since a Hong Kong listing in 2004. Its founder Sun Shaofeng is worth US$433mil through his 46% stake in the firm.

Also making its debut is Nasdaq-listed Chinese Internet search engine Baidu. The company’s revenue has grown 29-fold in four years, reaching US$462mil in 2008 while profit stood at US$151mil.