Six Vietnamese firms in Forbes Asia’s Best Under A Billion list

Apartment buildings and houses in Ho Chi Minh City. Photo by VnExpress/Quynh Tran.

The 2020 ranking, which honors 200 small and mid-sized listed companies in the Asia-Pacific region with revenues of between US$10 million and US$1 billion, includes real estate developers Phat Dat Real Estate Development JSC (PDR) and Century Land JSC (CRE), paper manufacturer Dong Hai JSC of Ben Tre (DHC), seafood processing firm Nam Viet Corp (ANV), Taseco Air Services JSC (AST), and stationery producer Thien Long Group Corp (TLG). All six firms are listed on the Ho Chi Minh City Stock Exchange.

The companies recorded annual sales of US$49-193 million, and net income of US$8-36 million. Of the six, ANV boasted the highest annual sales of US$193 million, followed by PDR (US$176 million), TLG (US$140 million), CRE (US$100 million), DHC (US$62 million), and AST (US$49 million).

PDR enjoyed the highest net income of US$36 million, followed by ANV (US$30 million), CRE (US$17 million), TLG (US$14 million), AST and DHC, tied at US$8 million.

The six Vietnamese companies beat 18,000 candidates when they were assessed for profitability, revenues and indebtedness.

Forbes Asia stated that this year's list incorporated the companies' overall track record in measures such as debt, sales and earnings-per-share growth over both the most recent fiscal one- and three-year periods, and the strongest one- and five-year average returns on equity.

Companies from mainland China and Hong Kong continue to dominate the ranking with 37 entries.