Mega features in Forbes Asia’s best under a billion for a third consecutive year
This story is part of Forbes’ coverage of Asia’s Best Under A Billion 2023, 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.
This year’s annual Best Under A Billion list recognizes 200 small and midsized publicly traded companies in the region that outperformed despite stiff global headwinds like inflation and rising funding costs. The standouts are concentrated in chipmaking and related industries. Demand for semiconductors, found in everyday items like smartphones, appliances and cars, skyrocketed in the past three years with the accelerating adoption of AI technologies—although the market is expected to soften somewhat this year as supply constraints ease. Other top performers on our list include companies delivering IT solutions that underpin the digital transformation of healthcare, logistics and manufacturing, and other industries. Meanwhile, businesses that rely on consumer spending, such as restaurants, entertainment and sports, continued to see an uptick in sales as Covid-19 restrictions faded away. This year’s list includes 58 returnees from the previous year.
METHODOLOGY
This list is meant to identify companies with long-term sustainable performance across a variety of metrics. From a universe of over 20,000 publicly traded companies in the Asia-Pacific region with annual sales above $10 million and below $1 billion, these 200 companies were selected. 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 subsidiaries of larger companies were also excluded. The criteria also ensured a geographic diversity of companies from across the region. The list uses full-year annual results, based on the latest publicly available figures as of July 22, 2023.
The above article originally appeared on Forbes.com Asia.