3 Philippines firms among Forbes Asia’s ‘Best Under a Billion’

MANILA, Philippines —Three Philippines companies have been included in this year’s Best Under A Billion of Forbes Asia, a list of the top 200 small and midsized publicly traded companies in the region with sales under $1 billion.

Making it to the 2024 list were the Montinola family-led Far Eastern University (FEU), Lucio Co’s Philippine Bank of Communications (PBCom) and Tantoco-led SSI Group.

With reported sales of $88 million, FEU is a listed company that offers various academic programs and caters to different levels of education.

Established in 1928, the educational institution is headquartered in Manila, with FEU Manila as its main and oldest campus.

PBCom, with reported revenue of $163 million, is a commercial bank that offers a range of services, including deposit products, loans, trade finance and domestic and international fund transfers.

The bank was founded in 1939 and is headquartered in Makati City.

With $489 million in sales, the SSI Group manages a network of retail stores offering a wide range of goods from luxury to fashion, home decor, beauty and personal care products.

Founded in 1987, the company is regarded as the country’s leading specialty retailer, operating over 500 stores in malls across the country.

Forbes said the 200 companies in its Best Under A Billion list for 2024 were selected from a universe of more than 20,000 publicly traded companies in the Asia-Pacific region with annual sales above $10 million and below $1 billion.

It said the list features companies with a track record of long-term sustainable performance across a variety of metrics.