Batu Kawan, sole M’sian company in latest Forbes Asia’s Fabulous 50 list

SINGAPORE: Ipoh-based Batu Kawan Bhd is the only Malaysian company listed in the just-released 13th Annual Forbes Asia’s Fabulous 50 List (Fab 50).

Batu Kawan, an investment holding company engaged in the chemical manufacturing, transportation, property investment, and plantations sectors, was founded on Dec 9, 1965.

Its current sales stood at US$4.11 billion (US$1=RM4.277) and had a market capitalisation of US$1.8 billion.

Forbes Media said the Fab 50 companies were selected from a pool of 1,694 public companies in the region with at least US$1.8 billion in annual revenue.

Companies that were losing money or whose revenue was less than it was five years ago did not qualify, it said.

The list also excluded companies that had a high-debt ratio,more than 50 per cent state-owned, or more than 50 per cent-owned by listed parents. Companies are then analysed using a battery of more than a dozen financial measures.

“The result is a stellar lineup of high-performing blue chips, the region’s best of the best,” said Forbes Media, a company which published Forbes and Forbes Asia magazines, including Forbes.com web site.

It noted that there were no companies from Australia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand on this year’s list.

Malaysia, Indonesia and Vietnam each had a company listed in the latest Fab 50 it said, adding that these companies were among the 20 new entrants for this year.

China was in the spotlight as it had a record 29 companies on the list, all of which were headquartered in the mainland, up from 22 last year.

Forbes Media said China boasts the two most valuable companies on the list – Alibaba Group and Tencent Holdings – with market capitalisations of US$399 billion and US$387 billion, respectively.

These two companies are also ranked first and second in terms of net profits, said Forbes Media.

India had eight companies on the latest list followed by Hong Kong and Japan, with three companies each, while both South Korea and Taiwan had two companies which made it into the Fab 50.

The full list can be found at www. forbes.com/fab50 including in the latest issue of Forbes Asia which is available at newsstands now.