Forbes Fab 50: Asia's Best Companies

Businesses are being tested throughout the region. Three years of slowing growth, gyrating currencies and stock prices, and stagnating export markets in the US and Europe all present challenges. Companies that are not only surviving but also shining in these times make up our roster of Asia-Pacific’s best 50 big listed companies.

Twenty Chinese firms make the list, down from 23 last year. The mainland’s real estate sector is suffering, but three property developers from last year’s Fab 50—China Vanke, Longfor Properties and Poly Real Estate Group—found new markets and put together another winning year. India has 12 entries, up from 11 last year. We take a closer look at two of these— Asian Paints and Tata Consultancy Services. Three Indian drug companies grace this year’s list—Sun and Dr Reddy’s, which are returnees, and Lupin, a newcomer—showing the country’s pharma clout. One Indian company, HDFC Bank, has now made the list seven times, more than any other Fab 50 company this year.

Hong Kong put four companies on the list, the next highest number, and all are newcomers: Wharf (Holdings), which started in 1886, and three casino companies—SJM Holdings, Galaxy Entertainment and Melco Crown Entertainment—demonstrate Macau’s booming gambling industry.

Eighteen firms are debuting, including three from the Philippines. Every country is represented except Japan, which failed to boast a Fab 50 company in 2011 as well. Two long-running Fab 50 companies didn’t answer the bell this year: Hong Kong’s Li & Fung and Noble Group had made the list seven times.

How do we pick these companies? We started with 1,220 that had at least $3 billion in annual revenue or market capitalisation. We looked at each company’s track record for revenue, profits, return on capital and share-price movements, and then we sized up the outlook. If it had too much debt or the government owned at least half the shares, it was out.


Click here for the full list of Asia’s Fab 50 Companies


(Reporting by Joyce Huang, Anuradha Raghunathan, Heng Shao and David Yin)

All fi gures are in US dollars. Market values as of Aug. 20. Sources: Factset estimates, interactive data, Lionshares and Worldscope via Factset Research Systems; Bloomberg.