Three Malaysian firms in Forbes Asia’s Best Under A Billion list

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SINGAPORE: Three Malaysian listed companies made it to this year’s 200 top-performing public companies of Forbes Asia’s Best Under A Billion list.

They are Pentamaster Corporation Bhd, Vitrox Corporation Bhd and Elsoft Research Bhd.

The Best Under A Billion list honors 200 leading public companies in the Asia Pacific region with an annual revenue between US$5 million and US$1 billion.

“The Best Under A Billion list demonstrates the dynamism of Asia’s small and medium-sized businesses in creating value across the region,” said Forbes Asia’s editor, Justin Doebele in a statement yesterday.

According to Forbes Asia, the 200 companies posted more than 50 per cent average growth in annual net profit and sales in their latest financial year for a combined US$10 billion and US$54 billion
respectively.

The total market value of the class of 2019, however, fell 10 per cent to US$228 billion, compared to the previous batch, amid trade tensions between China and the US.

“Some of Asia’s biggest success stories, such as Alibaba, were formerly on the Best Under A Billion list,” said Doebele.

Malaysian budget carrier AirAsia is a notable Best Under A Billion alumni, together with technology behemoth Tencent, Internet search provider, Baidu, Indian paint and coating manufacturer, Asian Paints and popular fast-food chain Jollibee, of the Philippines.

This year, 149 of the 200 companies are new to the list.

From a universe of 19,000 companies, candidates were screened for profitability, growth and modest indebtedness.

Pentamaster, through its subsidiaries, manufactures automated and semi-automated machines and equipment, designs and manufactures precision machinery components, as well as assembles and installs computerised automation systems and equipment.

It recorded US$105 million in revenue.

Vitrox which registered US$98 million in sales, provides machine vision solutions for semiconductor integrated circuit inspection.

Meanwhile, Elsoft Research’s products and services include advanced electronics system design, systems software engineering and algorithm development, and optoelectronic/semiconductor parametric testers.

Its sales stood at US$19 million.

The full list can be found at www.forbes.com/bub and in the July/August issue of Forbes Asia. — Bernama