Seven listed companies from Việt Nam have made it to Forbes Asia’s Best Over A Billion 2019 list. — Source Forbes Asia

HCM CITY — Forbes Asia has named the 200 best-performing listed companies in the Asia - Pacific region with revenues of a US$1 billion or more, and Masan Group is one of seven from Việt Nam.

The search started with a pool of 3,200 listed companies in the Asia-Pacific region with $1 billion or more in revenues in their latest financial year.

Unprofitable companies and those whose sales declined in the past five years were then eliminated. Next off the list were companies carrying long-term debt equal to or greater than half their capital and those with glaring governance or legal problems.

Contenders were ranked based on more than a dozen metrics, including average five-year sales, operating income growth, return on capital, and projected growth over the next one to two years. Those with the highest composite scores made it to the final list of 200.

The six others from Việt Nam in Forbes Asia’s inaugural Best Over A Billion list, besides Masan, are Thegioididong, Sabeco, Vietjet Air, Vinamilk, Techcombank, and Vingroup.

According to Forbes, Masan’s revenues in the last financial year topped $1.6 billion while market capitalization was over $3.7 billion.

The company also made it to some renowned rankings in Việt Nam.

In August it was selected by Forbes as one of the Top 50 Listed Companies in Việt Nam in 2019, the seventh consecutive year it won the honour.

In June Nhịp Cầu Đầu Tư magazine named it among the 50 Best Performing Companies in Việt Nam in 2018.

Masan is one of only 17 companies with a market capitalisation of over $1 billion.

In 2018 its after-tax profit increased by 58.4 per cent to VNĐ 4.91 trillion ($211.77 million), the highest since it listed.

Masan Consumer, its consumer goods subsidiary, traded on UPCoM in 2018 with an after-tax profit of VNĐ2,162 billion thanks to the growth of the food and beverage categories.

According to the 2019 Brand Footprint report by Kantar Worldpanel, Masan Consumer has been among the top three manufacturers in terms of number of popular brands in urban (four major cities) and rural areas for seven consecutive years.

Its Nam Ngư is one of the two most chosen food brands in urban (four main cities) and rural areas.

In July Masan MEATLife (MML), another subsidiary, announced its mission to provide a better meat  for 100 million Vietnamese consumers and plans to list on the Unlisted Public Company Market (UPCoM) this year.

MML successfully launched its first fresh chilled meat product using European processing technology and standards under the “MEATDeli” brand last December. — VNS