Six S’pore-based firms make it to Forbes Asia Best Under a Billion list amid Covid-19 pandemic

• Forbes Asia’s Best Under a Billion list for 2021 includes six Singapore-based companies
• Among them are surgical glove manufacturer Riverstone Holdings and egg producer Eggriculture
• Companies were scored based on several financial performance metrics and chosen from a list of 20,000 firms
• The publication said the list reflected how healthcare and pharmaceutical firms stood out amid the pandemic
   

SINGAPORE — Six Singapore-based companies, including a surgical glove manufacturer and a mobile games developer, made it to this year’s Forbes Asia’s Best Under a Billion list, which recognises the top 200 publicly listed companies with less than US$1 billion (S$1.34 billion) in sales in the region.

The new list announced on Wednesday (Sept 8) revealed how healthcare and pharmaceutical companies stood out amid the pandemic, while technology and logistics firms also benefited from a global e-commerce boom, the magazine said.

The list, which is unranked, measures the long-term performance of companies from a database of 20,000 businesses in the Asia Pacific based on their full-year annual results, and firms are scored based on their track record in debt, sales, earnings per share growth and average returns on equity. 

Those with serious governance issues, questionable accounting, environmental concerns or legal and management troubles are screened and excluded from the final list, said Forbes Asia.

“Their sound financial figures reflect how well these companies coped in the midst of a global pandemic,” the publication said about the shortlisted businesses.

Three of the six Singapore-based companies were on last year’s list — Eggriculture Foods, AEM and Union Gas Holdings. The Singapore Exchange, which was listed by Forbes Asia in 2020, did not make the cut this time around.

The six Singapore-based companies that made it to this year’s list are:

1. Riverstone Holdings

Riverstone Holdings produces nitrile gloves for use in clean rooms and for the healthcare industry. Based in Singapore, the company has three manufacturing sites in Malaysia, one in Thailand and one in China.

The company made an RM518 million (S$108 million) profit in the second quarter this year, despite strict Covid-19 movement control orders affecting production volumes in Malaysia, as well as global shipping delays.

A UOB Kay Hian report in August said that the firm faces a challenging outlook for the second half of the year since the average selling price for healthcare gloves is expected to fall, given reduced demand and more competition from China manufacturers.

Analyst John Cheong, however, pointed out that Riverstone is focused on producing gloves for clean rooms, instead of switching production to healthcare gloves like what its rivals have done, and the company has also set its sights on longer-term prospects beyond the pandemic.

Its chief executive officer, Malaysian Wong Teek Son, is in Forbes' top 50 richest net worth list for Malaysia.

2. IGG

Founded in 2006, IGG is a developer and publisher of mobile games that is headquartered in Singapore. It has offices in Asia, North America and Europe.

Best known for producing mobile games such as Clash of Lords and Castle Clash, the group is listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. It was founded by executive director Cai Zong Jian and independent non-executive director Yuan Chi, both of whom are Chinese nationals.

IGG has a market capitalisation of more than US1.2 billion and reported US$704 million in revenue in the past year.

3. AEM Holdings

AEM Holdings is a supplier of testing equipment for semiconductors and electronics. In April 2021, the company acquired a minority stake in South Korean semiconductor-testing equipment maker ATECO for about US$3.8 million.

Listed on the Singapore bourse, an analyst from CGS-CIMB listed the stock as one of five Singapore stocks worthy of a deeper dive, despite reporting weaker earnings in the second quarter this year, as demand is expected to pick up in the second half of the year and beyond.

In August, the company announced a proposed private placement to Venezio Investments, a wholly owned subsidiary of Singapore sovereign wealth fund Temasek Holdings, which will mean that the latter will become AEM’s new major shareholder. 

4. Union Gas Holdings

Founded in 1974, Union Gas Holdings sells fuel products in Singapore for residential and commercial use. 

Its main business is the sale of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), compressed natural gas (CNG) and diesel, and it is one of the leading suppliers of bottled LPG cylinders to domestic households in Singapore, as well as CNG for commercial users.

Last month, Union Gas made a S$75 million “complementary acquisition” of Sembas (Asia) Trading, Semgas Supply and Summit Gas, paving its way to becoming the largest LPG player with the largest bottling operations in Singapore, said the group.

The firm has indicated that this acquisition will have a positive financial impact on its group. The group made S$45.1 million in revenue in the first half of 2021 due to higher sales volume and average selling price.

5. Samurai 2K Aerosol 

Samurai 2K Aerosol, a Malaysian maker of automotive aerosol paints and coating sprays that is headquartered in Singapore, was founded in 1997 and has been listed on the SGX Catalist since its initial public offering in 2017.

It reported a net profit of RM17.5 million (S$5.65 million) in the 2021 financial year ending on March 31, which was a 244 per cent increase from the previous year.

6. Eggriculture Foods

Eggriculture Foods, which is listed in Hong Kong and headquartered in Singapore, produces and sells egg products, including fresh eggs and pasteurised egg products under the N&N brand as well as its Egg Story label.

A write-up of the company on the Singapore Food Agency’s website said that the Eggriculture’s chief executive Ma Chin Chew left his job in the Singapore Navy to take over his family’s chicken import and slaughter business. Mr Ma took over N&N Agriculture in 2010 and grew it into one of the most established pasteurised egg farms in Singapore.

The group’s revenue grew from S$46.3 million in the 2020 financial year to approximately S$52.5 million in 2021, a 13 per cent increase.