Forbes Asia’s Best Under A Billion 2020

This story is part of Forbes’ coverage of Asia’s Best Under A Billion 2020 list, which highlights 200 Asia-Pacific public companies with less than $1 billion in revenue and consistent top- and bottom-line growth. See the full list, sorted alphabetically, here.

The annual Best Under A Billion list spotlights 200 publicly listed small and midsized companies in the Asia-Pacific region with sales under $1 billion.

These companies have track records of exceptional corporate performance, with one Covid-19 caveat: the list is based on full-year data as of July 7 and does not fully reflect the impact from the pandemic-led downturn.

The companies on this list have scored above their peers in a composite ranking that includes sales and profit growth, low debt levels and robust governance.

The criteria also ensured a geographic diversity of companies from across the region. By using metrics both quantitative and qualitative, the final list of 200 is truly a select group.

Here are eight other examples showing the breadth and depth of this year’s BUB list.

Deepak Nitrite

India-based chemicals maker Deepak Nitrite had record full-year earnings of $86 million, due to increased demand for its isopropyl alcohol, a key ingredient in sanitizer. The company is also benefiting as global buyers, worried about the U.S.-China trade war, look for chemical suppliers outside China.

Hypebeast

From a sneaker blog two decades ago to a site generating HK$751 million ($96 million) in annual revenue, Hong Kong’s Hypebeast saw its digital content and advertising sales rise 12% in its latest fiscal year, including from its e-commerce site HBX.

Jumbo Interactive

Last year marked a watershed for this 34-year-old Australian lottery operator, as it launched an online software platform for lotteries abroad. Net profit more than doubled to A$26 million ($19 million) on a 64% sales increase to A$65 million.

Kuang Hong Arts Management

Taiwan’s Kuang Hong organized more than 100 events last year—including concerts and sporting events—and had a nearly sevenfold rise in net profits to $7 million. It also offers services such as equipment rentals, talent management and ticket sales. 

Pakuwon Jati

This Indonesian real estate developer returns to this year’s list, after its diversified portfolio helped 2019 profits to rise 7% to 2.7 trillion rupiah ($192 million).

Revenue Group

This Malaysian fintech firm grew revenues 64% last year, to 58 million ringgit ($14 million). It has enjoyed organic growth and new sales from acquisitions, such as digital payments provider AnyPay and e-marketplace Buymall Services.

SISB

Founded in 2001, SISB owns and operates five private schools in Thailand. The schools’ intake of students rose 10% in 2019, boosting the Bangkok-based company’s net profit 20% to 221 million baht ($7 million). While the student tally rose again at the start of the 2020 academic year, SISB cut its enrollment target because of the pandemic.

Welbe, Inc.

This Japanese service provider saw net profits rise by roughly a fifth, to ¥1.2 billion ($11 million), in fiscal 2020. The firm provides services such as helping preschool children with developmental disorders and long-term care for senior citizens.

METHODOLOGY

This list is meant to identify companies with long-term sustainable performance across a variety of metrics. From a universe of 18,000 publicly traded companies in the Asia-Pacific region with annual revenue above $10 million and below $1 billion, only these 200 companies made the cut. The companies on this list, which is unranked, were selected based on a composite score that incorporated their overall track record in 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 used as well, such as excluding companies with serious governance issues, questionable accounting, environmental concerns, management issues or legal troubles. State-controlled and subsidiary companies were also excluded. The latest available full-year annual results on FactSet as of July 7, 2020, were used for numeric data. All other research was done by Forbes Asia.