China again tops in Asia Pacific

Tags: Asia Pacific | China

Written by Financial Daily
Friday, 25 September 2009 11:23

SINGAPORE: China has again outdone the rest of Asia Pacific with the most number of firms represented in Forbes Asia’s Fabulous 50, an annual list of 50 big-capitalised and profitable firms in the region.

In a statement yesterday, Forbes Asia said 16 companies from mainland China made the cut this year, compared with 13 last year and only five when the inaugural Fabulous 50 was published in 2005.

It said out of 24 newcomers this year, nine were Chinese firms including Agile Property Holdings, Anhui Conch Cement, Digital China Holdings and Tencent Holdings.

Forbes Asia said the mainland firms, together with five from Taiwan and three from Hong Kong, accounted for almost half of the entries, giving Greater China the biggest regional representation on the list.

Only companies with revenues or market capitalisation of at least US$3 billion (RM10.41 billion), and a five-year record of operating profitability and return on equity, are covered.

Following closely behind China is India with 13 entries, compared with nine last year. Most of the Indian firms were on the list previously except for four newcomers: Adani Enterprises, Axis Bank, Jindal Steel & Power and Tata Consultancy Services.

Among the Indian firms returning to the list are Bharat Heavy Electricals, Larsen & Toubro and Reliance Industries, all making their appearance for the fourth time, while Infosys Technologies and Wipro have been on the list since its inception in 2005.

Other companies with similar staying power five years in a row are Australia’s BNP Billiton, Brambles and Woolworths, Hong Kong’s Li & Fung and Taiwan’s Hon Hai Precision Industry.

Forbes Asia said Taiwan moved up the ranking this year and was in third place with five companies on the list, all of which are from the TECHNOLOGY [] sector. The only new face among the five is Siliconware Precision Industries, which assembles and tests semiconductors.

Japan and Australia are tied at fourth place with four companies each.


This article appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, September 25, 2009.