Honouring Malaysia’s world-class companies
The Edge Billion Ringgit Club (BRC) was started by The Edge in 2010 to recognise Malaysia’s best-performing companies. On the evening of Aug 15, the seventh chapter of the BRC awards saw 29 firms scooping up the 34 company awards that were given out at the gala dinner.
We do have world-class companies in Malaysia — companies that have innovated and grown, created jobs, rewarded shareholders, paid taxes and contributed to the nation’s economic development.
Membership to BRC is not by invitation. It is by eligibility, and the criteria are transparent. To be eligible, a company must have a minimum market capitalisation of RM1.0 billion.
Based on the March 31, 2016, cut-off date, 176 companies out of around 900 listed on Bursa Malaysia made the cut, 10 more than last year.
These 176 BRC members commanded a total market capitalisation of RM1.51 trillion or 90.7% of the total market cap of Bursa as at March 31, 2016.
This is below the RM1.536 trillion combined market cap of BRC companies in 2015, which is a reflection of market conditions.
Their combined revenue for FY2015 was RM724.8 billion, up 3.9% from RM697.4 billion in 2014. Total pre-tax profit was down to RM115 billion in FY2015 from RM119 billion in FY2014.
BRC companies are major taxpayers — they paid an estimated RM28.1 billion in 2015, compared with RM31 billion in 2014. This is about 25% of the RM112 billion direct taxes collected by the Inland Revenue Board in 2015.
There were three categories of awards for financial performance over three years (FY2012-2015):
- The highest return on equity, which recognises good capital management.
- The highest compound growth in profit before tax, which recognises strong earnings growth.
- The highest returns to shareholders, which recognises dividend payout and share price performance.
These awards were given to companies in the following sectors:
- Construction
- Consumer products
- Finance
- Industrial
- Plantations
- Property
- REITS
- Trading/Services, Hotels, IPC and Technology.
In recognising the fact that there should be differences in evaluating companies based on size as well, we introduced two new categories this year:
- Big cap companies — between RM10 billion and RM40 billion market capitalisation
- Super big cap companies — more than RM40 billion market capitalisation
The financial performance data was obtained from annual reports, tabulated by financial advisory website absolutelystocks.com and audited by Deloitte Malaysia.
Apart from the awards for financial performance, we had awards for Corporate Responsibility for Companies of below RM10 billion in market cap, Big and Super Big Cap.
We believe CR initiatives are important as Corporate Malaysia’s contribution to help nurture a more inclusive society.
Nestlé Malaysia won the Company of the Year award, which is given to a company that has combined attributes of excellent financial performance and CR initiatives over a sustained number of years.
The Value Creator/Outstanding CEO of the Year is given to an individual who has over a period of time built and transformed the organisation he leads and created value for shareholders, the industry and the nation. This year, the award was presented to Tan Sri Azman Mokthar for transforming the business models and practices at government-linked companies under Khazanah Nasional Bhd, and for driving the development of Iskandar Malaysia to become the country’s next most important economic region.
I would like to thank OCBC Bank, Jaeger-LeCoultre, Mercedes-Benz and Qatar Airways for their partnership in this prestigious event to recognise the best of Corporate Malaysia.
The business environment is facing headwinds that could be around for a while, and this will be a stern test that will decide who will come out tops in BRC 2017.
But that is next year.
For now, our congratulations to all the winners of BRC 2016!
Ho Kay Tat
Publisher & Group CEO
The Edge Media Group