20 Philippine companies in Nikkei’s top 300 Asian firms list

MANILA, Philippines – Twenty Philippine companies are included in Nikkei Asian Review’s list of the 300 most powerful and valuable Asian listed companies, with SM Prime Holdings Incorporated and Universal Robina Corporation making it to the top 30.

The previous list counted 19 Philippine companies in the circle.

Nikkei Asian Review’s 2017 Asia300 Power Performers Ranking showed a Philippine newcomer: Bloomberry Resorts Corporation, the owner and operator of Solaire Resort and Casino. As of June 16, Bloomberry’s market capitalization is P102.98 billion, data from the Philippine Stock Exchange showed.

In 2016, it registered its highest gross gaming revenue in a year since opening in 2013, ending the year with P38.3 billion. 

Other companies in the list are Aboitiz Power Corporation, Alliance Global Group Incorporated, Ayala Corporation, Ayala Land Incorporated, BDO Unibank Incorporated, Cebu Air Incorporated, DMCI Holdings Incorporated, GT Capital Holdings Incorporated, International Container Terminal Services Incorporated, JG Summit Holdings Incorporated, Jollibee Foods Corporation, LT Group Incorporated, Manila Electric Company, Metro Pacific Investments Corporation, PLDT Incorporated, San Miguel Corporation, and SM Investments Corporation. 

Of the 20 companies, only SM Prime and Universal Robina are included in the top 30. 

SM Prime’s lead

SM Prime, the Philippines’ biggest real estate company, climbed to the 23rd spot, from 25th, after it increased its market capitalization to P989.11 billion as of June 16.

SM Prime used to be the mall development arm of SM Investments, the publicly listed holding company of the Sy family, the Philippines’ richest.

“But in 2013, the Sy family decided to consolidate its property assets under SM Prime. The consolidation process saw the Sy-controlled condominium builder SM Development, leisure property firm Highlands Prime, and privately held SM Land being folded into SM Prime,” Nikkei said in its summary.

“The restructuring made SM Prime the Philippines’ biggest real estate company and one of the largest in the region in terms of market capitalization,” the Japanese publication added.

Universal Robina’s biggest jump

Meanwhile, Universal Robina, the food and beverage company of the Gokongweis, climbed 47 notches to the 26th spot.

Nikkei said Universal Robina remains the leader in market share in terms of snacks, candies, chocolates, canned beans, and ready-to-drink tea in the Philippines and the 2nd leading in terms of cup noodles and instant coffee. 

In a bid to expand its presence in Southeast Asia, Universal Robina had said it plans to put up production plants in Laos and Cambodia.

Last year, the Gokongwei-led firm teamed up with Calbee for the production and sale of the Japanese snack maker’s products in the Philippines, took over New Zealand’s NZ Snack Food Holdings for $550 million, as well as partnered with Danone Asia Holdings in a bid to expand its beverage portfolio.

Nikkei Asian Review’s annual Asia300 Power Performers Ranking is a compilation of the most powerful and valuable listed companies in Asia.

It is the publication’s exclusive selection of the biggest and fastest-growing companies from 11 economies across the continent.

“We compiled the ranking by analyzing the 327 companies on that list, taking into account a mix of 4 factors: growth, profitability, efficiency and financial soundness,” Nikkei said in its report.

Earning the top spot in the 2017 list is Taiwan’s Largan Precision Company Limited, the world’s leading maker of lenses for smartphone cameras. Indian firms composed bulk of the list. – Rappler.com