Philippines firm in Forbes Asia’s Best Under Billion list

MANILA, Philippines — Suntrust Home Developers Inc., a holding company in the Philippines, made it to Forbes Asia’s Best Under a Billion list of 200 top-performing public companies in the region.

The company is an associate of Andrew Tan’s Megaworld Corp. but is not a subsidiary.

According to Forbes, Suntrust has a market cap of $31 million. Chaired by Ferdinand Masi, the company invests in information technology and tourism related businesses.

It is listed on the Philippine Stock Exchange and is the only company from the Philippines to make it to this year’s list.

In essence, Forbes said that some of Asia’s biggest success stories, such as Alibaba, were formerly on its Best Under A Billion list.

The list honors 200 leading public companies in the Asia-Pacific region with annual revenue between $5 million and $1 billion, according to Forbes.

From a universe of 19,000 companies, candidates were screened for profitability, growth and modest indebtedness.

Truly a select group, the top-performing companies produced the highest sales and earnings per share growth for both the most recent fiscal one- and three-year periods, and the strongest one- and five-year average return on equity.

“The Best Under A Billion list demonstrates the dynamism of Asia’s small and medium-sized businesses in creating value across the region,” said Justin Doebele, Forbes Asia editor.

In all, the 200 top-performing public companies on the 2019 Forbes Asia’s Best Under A Billion list posted more than 50 percent average growth in annual net profit and sales in their latest financial year to a combined $10 billion and $54 billion, respectively.

However, the total market value of the class of 2019 fell 10 percent to $228 billion, compared to the previous batch, amid trade tensions between China and the US.

A barometer of sorts for future success, the Best Under A Billion has a roster of distinguished alumni such as Filipino food giant Jollibee Foods Corp., technology behemoth Tencent, internet search provider Baidu, Indian paint and coating manufacturer Asian Paints and Malaysian budget carrier AirAsia.