Seven Vietnamese firms among Forbes Asia’s 200 Best Over A Billion list

Vinamilk is one of the seven Vietnamese firms named in Forbes Asia's 200 Best Over A Billion list

The remaining five include Vietjet Aviation JSC (Vietjet Air), Vietnam Dairy Products JSC (Vinamilk), Masan Group, Saigon Beer-Alcohol-Beverage Corporation (Sabeco) and Vietnam Technological & Commercial Joint Stock Bank (Techcombank).

Vietnam’s largest private conglomerate Vingroup topped the list of Vietnamese companies in terms of both revenue and market value. Its revenue rose 36% to US$5.295 billion in 2018, followed by MWF at US$3.758 billion and Vietjet Air at US$2.328 billion.

Vingroup’s market value stood at US$17 billion, much higher than Vinamilk (US$9.076 billion) and Sabeco (US$7.734 billion) in second and third place, respectively. However, Vingroup’s net profit dropped 15% to US$164 million in 2018 as it ramped up investments in its car manufacturing business, Forbes Asia said.

Vinamilk reported the highest net income last year, at US$444 million, followed by Techcombank at US$368 million and Vietjet Air at US$232 million.

The “200 Best Over A Billion” search started with a pool of 3,200 listed companies in the Asia-Pacific region with a revenue of US$1 billion or more in their latest financial year. Unprofitable companies and those whose sales declined in the past five years were then eliminated.

Contenders were ranked by a battery of 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 having the highest composite score earned a place in the final list of 200, Forbes Asia said.