i-flex ranked No. 12 in Forbes’ Asia’s best under billion list

India has emerged as the fourth biggest home to the best small companies in Asia with as many as 23 domestic firms finding place in a list of ‘200 best under-billion companies’ prepared by the Forbes magazine.In a development that marks growing recognition for India Inc — including small companies and not just the corporate giants and IT majors, India has been ranked ahead of countries like Japan, Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea and Thailand.Three Indian firms — Great Eastern Shipping, Cipla and Sesa Goa have also managed to make to the top-25 of the “Asia’s 200 Best Under Billion” list published in the latest Asia edition of the business magazine.
Taiwan leads the tally with as many as 31 companies, followed by China with 30 entries and Australia with 27 companies on the list. The list include 11 companies each from Hong Kong, South Korea and Thailand, five from Indonesia, 19 each from Japan and Singapore, eight from Malaysia, three from Pakistan and one each from New Zealand and Sri Lanka.
Domestic shipping firm, GE Shipping has been ranked as the third most profitable entity on the list with a net income of 193 million dollars, followed by pharma major Cipla at 9th position with net income of 136 million dollars in the overall Asia list.
Sesa Goa has been ranked at 20th position with net income of 108 million dollar. Hong Kong-based China Merchants Holdings tops the list with a profit of 305 million dollar, followed by Australia’s Oil Search at second position with profit of 193 million dollars.
In terms of sales, Bharat Forge and Asian paints have been ranked at 12th and 13th position, followed by Cipla at the 14th rank across Asia.
Cipla also finds place in the magazine’s top-ten market value companies among all 200 firms mentioned in the list. It has been ranked at fourth position in this league with a market-value of 4.37 billion dollar, followed by i-flex solutions at 12th rank with a market value of 2.42 billion dollar, Bharat Forge and Dabur India at 24th and 25th positions respectively.
All the 23 Indian companies on the list include: Asian Paints, Bajaj Hindustan, Balkrishna Industries, Balrampur Chini Mills, Bharat Forge, Cadila Healthcare, Carborundum Universal, Cipla, Dabur India, Essel Propack, FDC India, GE Shipping, Grindwell Norton India, i-flex solutions, JB Chemicals & Pharmaceuticals India, Kirloskar Oil Engines, Maharashtra Seamless, Mastek, Pantaloon Retail, Punjab Tractors, Rolta India, Sesa Goa and Thermax.
The magazine said not all companies in Asia were feeding the region’s export machine with many in Japan and India selling products to their domestic markets.
Forbes cited the example of Mumbai-based retailer Pantaloon, which sells everything from cell phones to saris.
The list is considerably dominated by manufacturing companies. With Asian factories churning out so much of the world’s clothing, furniture and electronics, it’s no surprise that manufacturers have a strong presence on the list, the magazine said.