Three Philippine firms land on Forbes Asia’s ‘Best Under A Billion’ list

Three firms from the Philippines were included in this year’s Best Under A Billion list of Forbes Asia, which recognizes 200 publicly traded companies in the region with sales under $1 billion.

The latest list features companies such as semiconductors, software and services, pharmaceuticals, healthcare, and manufacturing, among others.

“While healthcare and pharmaceutical-related companies were standouts last year, the post-pandemic return to daily life has benefitted apparel makers, mall operators, restaurants, consumer electronics, and entertainment companies, among others,” Forbes said in its writeup.

Among the local firms included in the list is COL Financial Group, which was listed with $27-million worth of sales, $12-million in net income, and a market value of $319 million.

COL Financial’s product portfolio includes full-service online stock brokerage, mutual funds in a single platform, professional equity services, investing tools and functionalities, research support, investor education seminars, market updates and information-driven briefings, and customer support.

It fully owns COL Securities (HK) Limited based in Hong Kong, and set up COL Investment Management Inc. in 2019 to serve as the fund manager for COL Equity Index Unitized Mutual Fund Inc., and COL Cash Management Unitized Mutual Fund Inc.

Also listed was Crown Asia Chemicals Corp. with $35 million in sales, $5 million in net income, and $21 million in market value.

Crown is involved in the production of plastic compounds, plastic pipes, and other related products including polyvinyl chloride (PVC) pellets used directly and indirectly in the construction and telecommunications industries.

Revenues are generated from two business groups — the compounds group which covers wires and cables, IC tubes, films and sheets, and bottles; and the pipes group which covers PVC potable pipes and fittings, electrical conduits, flexible electrical pipes, and sanitary pipes.

Eagle Cement Corp. was also included in the list, with $434 million in sales, $122 million in net income, and $1.17 billion in market value.

Its main products are cement bags under the ‘Eagle Cement Advance’ and ‘Eagle Cement Exceed’ brands, along with bulk cement sold under the ‘Eagle Cement Strongcem’ brand.

It owns a cement production facility in Barangay Akle, San Ildefonso, Bulacan, and a grinding and packaging facility in Limay, Bataan. The company distributes products in Luzon  through its distribution centers in Metro Manila, Region 4A, and Region 1. —KG, GMA News