8 Philippine Companies in Forbes List of Asia’s "Best Over a Billion"
Eight of the biggest listed corporations in the country have landed on Forbes Asia’s Best Over A Billion 2019 list, which features 200 top-performing companies in the Asia-Pacific region with sales revenues exceeding one billion US dollars from the previous year.
The eight Philippine companies on the billion dollar list are: Ayala Corporation, Cosco Capital, GT Capital Holdings, JG Summit Holdings, Jollibee Foods, Megaworld, San Miguel Food and Beverage, and SM Investments.
From the eight local companies on the list, SM Investments leads the way with revenues of $7.993 billion (P417.8 billion) in 2018. The company owned and controlled by the Sy family is followed by San Miguel Food and Beverage with $5.438 billion (P284.25 billion), and JG Summit Holdings with $5.327 billion (P278.44 billion).
SM Investments also tops in net income as the corporation earned $704 million (P36.8 billion) in 2018. Ayala Corp. comes in second with $604 million (P31.57 billion) in net income, followed by JG Summit Holdings with $364 million (P19.03 billion).
In market value, SM Investments again takes the lead at $22.796 billion (P1.19 trillion), followed by San Miguel Food and Beverage valued at $11.861 billion (P619.98 billion) and Ayala Corporation valued at $11.171 billion (P583.91 billion).
SM Investments, Ayala Corporation, and JG Summit Holdings are no strangers to Forbes. Earlier this year, the three companies were among only six Philippine companies to land on Forbes’ Global 2000 2019, an annual list that ranks the largest public companies in the global economy.
The Forbes team behind the Best Over A Billion list started off with a pool of 3,200 listed companies in the region that earned over $1 billion in revenues in 2018. Companies losing profit with declining sales, governance and legal problems, and debt greater than half their capital were crossed off the list. Forbes further filtered the selection of companies by including only those that saw impressive five-year sales, operating income growth, return on capital, and projected two-year growth.
The last ones standing represent, in Forbes' view, “the best of Asia-Pacific’s big companies.”
The American business magazine also noted how many billionaires in the region are linked to the companies on the Best Over A Billion List: “Nearly about two-thirds of the companies on this list are controlled or connected to families or individuals who have appeared on Forbes Asia rich lists.”
In the Philippines alone, the heads of JG Summit Holdings, Jollibee, San Miguel Food and Beverage, Megaworld, and SM Investments made it to the Forbes Billionaires list, which discloses the richest people in the world.
The Best Over A Billion was launched just this year to complement the well-known Best Under A Billion list. This year’s Best Under A Billion list saw only one Philippine company land on its radar: Suntrust Home Developers.
