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New Straits Times
6 days ago
- Business
- New Straits Times
Nine listed Malaysian firms in Forbes Asia's best under US$1bil list
KUALA LUMPUR: Nine Malaysian public listed companies have earned a spot on Forbes Asia's 2025 Best Under A Billion list, which highlights 200 top-performing small and mid-sized firms across Asia Pacific with annual revenue under US$1 billion (RM4.23 billion). They are Able Global Bhd, Crescendo Corp Bhd, Frontken Corp Bhd, Hibiscus Petroleum Bhd, Hup Seng Industries Bhd, ITMAX System Bhd, Kerjaya Prospek Group Bhd, Pekat Group Bhd and Scientex Bhd. Forbes Asia announced the list today, recognising 200 resilient and high-performing small and mid-sized public companies in the region. In a statement, Forbes Asia said trade tensions continue to affect the Asia Pacific economy, with growth expected to slow further according to the International Monetary Fund. Despite this, it said the companies on the list demonstrated strong performance over the past year, with many thriving despite the economic challenges. The financial services sector stood out, with 18 companies making the list compared to eight last year. The beauty industry also remained strong, with 13 companies mostly from South Korea earning a place. Other businesses benefited from growing demand in sectors such as renewable energy, electric vehicles and data centres. A total of 69 companies from last year's list returned in 2025, reflecting consistent performance. The Best Under A Billion list features publicly listed companies in the Asia Pacific with annual revenue between US$10 million and US$1 billion. From a pool of more than 19,000 companies, the final 200 were selected based on a composite score measuring debt levels, revenue and earnings per share growth over the latest one and three-year periods, and return on equity over one and five-year periods. Among the returnees is India's Triveni Turbine, which makes turbines of up to 100 megawatts used across industries such as cement, steel, chemicals and by independent power producers. South Korea-based PharmaResearch, which also appears on the list for the second consecutive year, is best known for its flagship skincare treatment product Rejuran, derived from salmon DNA. Another company returning to the list is DCI Indonesia, the country's largest data centre operator with 119 megawatts (MW) of capacity, which plans to add another 9MW when its new Surabaya facility opens later this year. Buoyed by Asia's growing wealth, Singapore-based wealth management platform iFast made its debut on this year's list, recording a record S$27 billion in assets under administration by the end of June. Taipei-based HD Renewable Energy, a solar and battery storage company, made the list with record 2024 revenue of NT$10 billion (US$310 million), up 73 per cent on rising demand for green energy. Since its launch in 2002, Forbes Asia's "Best Under A Billion" list has highlighted some of the region's biggest success stories, including Baidu, Alibaba, Infosys, Jollibee and AirAsia.
The Star
6 days ago
- Business
- The Star
Nine Malaysian firms make the cut in Forbes Asia's Best Under A Billion 2025
KUALA LUMPUR: Nine Malaysian companies have been included in Forbes Asia's Best Under a Billion 2025 list, which puts the spotlight on 200 Asia-Pacific companies with annual sales above USUS$10mil and below US$1bil. The nine Malaysian companies in this year's list are Able Global Bhd , Crescendo Corp Bhd , Frontken Corp Bhd , Hibiscus Petroleum Bhd , Hup Seng Industries Bhd , ITMax System Bhd , Kerjaya Prospek Group Bhd , Pekat Group Bhd and Scientex Bhd . There are fewer Malaysian companies on the list in 2025 as compared to the 11 that made it in 2024. Able Global was the only Malaysian company that appeared in both years. Malaysia's nine inclusions gives it the third-most representation on the list among countries in Southeast Asia, with only Thailand (17) and Indonesia (10) featuring more companies. "With trade tensions looming over the Asia-Pacific region, growth is predicted to continue to slow, according to the International Monetary Fund. "Despite these challenges, the annual Best Under A Billion list showcases businesses that remained resilient over the past year and, in many cases, thrived," said Forbes Asia in a statement. Forbes Asia added that the financial service sector saw 18 companies in the list, which was more than double the eight that appeared in the previous year. The beauty industry saw 13 companies - mostly from South Korea - included in the list. "Other companies in the region have benefited from the gathering momentum in the segments in which they operate, such as renewable energy, electric vehicles and data centres," it added. In total, 69 companies returned to the 2025 list from the previous year The companies on this unranked list were selected based on a composite score using measures such as debt, sales and earnings-per-share growth over both the most recent fiscal one- and three-year periods, and the strongest one- and five-year average returns on equity. Aside from quantitative criteria, qualitative screens were applied, such as excluding companies with serious governance issues, questionable accounting practices, environmental concerns, management problems or legal troubles in recent years. The list uses annual results based on the latest publicly available figures as of July 7, 2025.
