JG Summit makes it to Forbes' Fab 50 list anew

MANILA, Philippines – Taipan John Gokongwei’s JG Summit Holdings Inc. is in this year’s Forbes magazine’s Fabulous 50 list of publicly traded companies in Asia Pacific for the second consecutive year, and the only Philippine firm that made it to the magic list.

The Fab 50 companies are chosen from a pool of 1,295 publicly traded corporations with an annual revenue or market capitalization of at least $3 billion. They are assessed on their revenue, earnings, return on capital, share price movements and outlook.

JG Summit, whose interests span from food manufacturing to real estate, airline, banking, petrochemicals and banking, debuted on the Fab 50 list in 2011.

The Gokongwei-led conglomerate, one of the biggest and most diverse in the country, was chosen for its “solid financial track records coupled with great management and entrepreneurial skill”.

“Its expected earnings-per-share growth next year is the highest of the 50. Its market capitalization grew by 38 percent over the past 12 months,” Forbes Magazine said.

Companies that made it to the list were described by Forbes magazine as “the truly great ones” among Asia-Pacific’s biggest listed companies amid a slowing economy.

“So this year’s list of the 50 best publicly traded companies in Asia-Pacific is a roll call of outfits that have managed to thrive amid decelerating growth in Asia and all but nonexistent growth in their US and European markets,” the magazine said.

JG Summit chalked up sales of $2.8 billion while its market value stood at $5.4 billion.

The Fab 50 list was dominated by Chinese companies (23), followed by India (11) and South Korea (4). Australia, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Thailand each had two companies while Japan, Malaysia, Philippines and Singapore each had one company on the list.