Mainland China, Hong Kong, Taiwan Dominate Forbes Asia's "Best Under A Billion" List

Tom Burroughes

26 June 2015

Companies from mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan again dominate this year’s Forbes Asia’s “Best Under A Billion” list of companies and make up almost two-thirds (60 per cent) of the top 200 publicly-traded companies in the Asia-Pacific region, the publishing house has announced.

The rankings note the 200 leading public companies in the Asia-Pacific region with annual revenue between $5 million and $1 billion, positive net income, and which have been publicly traded for at least a year. The list is drawn from a universe of 17,000 companies; the candidates are screened on sales growth and earnings growth in the past 12 months and over three years, and for the strongest five-year return on equity.

Of the 200, 123 are new to the list, highlighting what Forbes Asia said is the dynamism of the region’s small and medium-sized sector – good news for wealth managers seeking a pipeline of future clients. A total of 84 companies on this year’s list are from China and Hong Kong, down one from last year.

The list shows a strong showing from the healthcare/pharma sector in China, including Da An Gene, which sells biomedicine, gene diagnostic products and conducts research on MERS virus testing kits, and By-health, China’s largest retailer of dietary supplements.

Other mainland and Hong Kong companies span a wide range of industries including printing, software, financial trusts, real estate, apparel, toys, movies and semiconductors.

The second largest group of companies on the list comes from Taiwan. This year, five more made it to the list, bringing the total number from Taiwan to 36. They include two companies with market value in excess of $3 billion - Hermes Microvision, a leading supplier of e-beam inspection instruments with market value of just over $5 billion, and Eclat Textile, a manufacturer of knitted fabrics and apparel. Also making the list is HIM International Music, the record label/talent agency behind popular girl group SHE.

Elsewhere in the region, South Korea is third on the list with 17 companies, up from 12 last year. Among them are Com2uS, a mobile game developer that makes its fourth showing on the list, and Muhak, a soju manufacturer.

India and Malaysia both have 11 companies on the list while Australia has nine companies. This year, Japan dropped out of the top five countries, with only eight companies compared to 15 last year. Singapore is represented by six companies, up from three last year.