Recent data released by DP Information Group on the 2007 Fastest Growing 50 (FG50) companies shows that 30 of the 50 winners each generated above $100 million turnover during the ranking period, with 11 of the FG50 companies being Public Listed Companies.

To be considered for the FG50 list, a company must have at least 10% turnover growth every year for the last three years and be profitable for each of these years. The FG50 award is given out annually in recognition of the Top 50 ranked companies based on a three-year Compounded Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) in turnover. 

This year, the number of companies qualifying for the FG50 list has increased by 14% to 240 companies, a reflection that as the Singapore economy improves, more companies are enjoying increased sales and profitability. 

Chart 1: Breakdown of FG50 Qualifying Companies By Company Type

With Singapore’s external trade growing at the rate of 14% and 13% respectively in 2005 and 2006, it is not surprising that 40% of the companies that have made it to this year’s FG50 winners’ list are from the wholesale sector. 

Chart 2: Breakdown of Top 50 FG50 Companies By Industry

One sector that has repeatedly put up spectacular performances in the last 3 years is the Finance sector, which saw its share of FG50 winners increase from 6% in 2005 to 8% in 2006 and 12% in 2007. 

Benefiting from the government’s push to establish Singapore as Asia’s Financial Hub, this year’s FG50 winners from the Finance sector are represented by one company from banking services and three companies from the investment/brokering sub-segment. The increasing tourist arrivals, construction sector recovery, improving job market and growing consumer confidence have resulted in booming business for the other two winners that are engaged in the money changing and remittance business. 

Regardless of business size, one key common factor observed is the presence of overseas revenue among 80% of this year’s FG50 award winners.

Among the 11 public listed companies in this year’s FG50 awards, 7 have reported more than half of their annual turnover generated from outside Singapore, suggesting the crucial role that overseas expansion played in fostering the growth among these companies.

Table 1: 2007 FG50 Ranked Public Listed Company

Hi-P international Limited, a fourth consecutive FG50 winner, is a contract manufacturer serving the wireless telecommunications, consumer electronics and computing and automotive industries. Headquartered in Singapore, the company has ventured into China, Thailand, USA, Mexico, Germany, Poland and Finland, generating 82.6% of its turnover from overseas market during the ranking period.

EZRA Holdings Limited, another repeat FG50 award winner has ventured beyond South East Asia into India and Middle East. During the ranking period, 70.6% of the company’s turnover is noted to have been generated from markets overseas.

Another repeat winner of FG50 award – Lee Metal Group Ltd also reported strong performance in South East Asia. Lee Metal, which is primarily engaged in steel merchandising, fabrication and metal recycling, reported 83.1% of turnover from markets outside Singapore.

All 3 companies are prime examples of the importance of overseas expansion in contributing to the amazing growth of these companies, a fact illustrated in their continual ranking in the FG50 list over the last few years.

In addition, Best World International Limited and The Straits Trading Company Limited have attributed their strong performance during the year to growth in South East Asia, with Malaysia representing the market with the highest return, contributing to 41.7% and 75.7% of the total turnover of the respective companies. 

Beyond the more established markets, companies are also reaping rewards from ventures into emerging regions like the Middle East. Inter-Roller Engineering Limited, a first-time winner of this year’s FG50 awards, is one such company that has made inroads into the Middle Eastern market. The company, which specializes in the designing and building of airport logistics systems generated 76.4% of its turnover from overseas markets, with The Middle East market accounting for 36.62% of its total turnover.

Of the 7, K1 Ventures Limited reported the highest share of overseas turnover, with 99.0% of its turnover coming from the US market during the year. 

It is noted that among the past winners of the FG50 Award, five have proceeded to make Initial Public Offers, namely Banyan Tree (Ranked 24 in 2006), Ban Leong Technologies (Ranked 28 in 2004), Ocean Sky International (Ranked 11 in 2003) and Mobile One (Ranked 21 in 2002). 

This year, the FG50 have uncovered non-listed companies with the potential to be the next generation of successful listed companies. These companies make up 24% of this year’s high growth SME (Small Medium Enterprise) FG50 winners and are noted to have a high component of overseas revenue, generating more than 50% of their revenue overseas as a result of successful forays into markets like the United States, Europe, India and China.

Moving forward, the potential and excitement brought about by the annual FG50 Awards is expected to feature prominently on the calendar of the avid investor, looking for the next unpolished gems among the currently non-listed highest growth companies in Singapore. 

Article Contributed By DP Information Group
www.dpgroup.sg

 

Rank	Company Name	CAGR (%)
1	GLOBAL ENERGY TRADING PTE LTD	718.2%
2	TAT HIN BUILDERS PTE LTD	609.0%
3	DINOWIC PTE LTD 296.2%	2%
4	PETROFARM SINGAPORE PTE. LTD.	276.0%
5	OMNI UNITED (S) PTE. LTD.	275.5%
6	ASIAN EXCHANGE PTE LTD 237.0%	237.0%
7	TRIPARTITE DEVELOPERS PTE. LIMITED	184.5%
8	BANK JULIUS BAER (SINGAPORE) LTD.	169.8%
9	ASIAN STEEL COMPANY LTD 161.6%	161.6%
10	K1 VENTURES LIMITED	152.6%
11	TARGET ASSET MANAGEMENT PTE LTD	150.8%
12	BOSCH SECURITY SYSTEMS PTE. LTD.	130.4%
13	CAVU CORP PTE. LTD.	116.9%
14	HAN FONG TRADING ENTERPRISE PTE LTD	111.9%
15	EZRA HOLDINGS LIMITED	111.0%
16	BEST WORLD INTERNATIONAL LIMITED	110.8%
17	KOUFU PTE LTD	109.1%
18	SINCO TECHNOLOGIES PTE LTD	109.0%
19	JIN LI MOULD MANUFACTURING PTE LTD	105.3%
20	DANONE ASIA PTE LTD	100.9%
21	CMC S.E. ASIA PTE. LTD.	98.1%
22	SERAYA ENERGY PTE LTD	97.5%
23	ADVANCE TECH PRECISION PTE LTD	94.7%
24	MORGAN STANLEY DEAN WITTER CAPITAL GROUP (SINGAPORE) PTE	92.7%
25	IWOW TECHNOLOGY PTE LTD	92.0%
26	CFE ENGINEERS ASIA PTE LTD	91.2%
27	ARYAN (SEA) PRIVATE LIMITED	91.2%
28	CHINAOIL (SINGAPORE) INT'L PTE LTD	88.4%
29	GRUNDFOS (SINGAPORE) PTE LTD	83.2%
30	CHINA OFFSHORE OIL (SINGAPORE) INTERNATIONAL PTE LTD	82.5%
31	TRAFIGURA PTE LTD	81.4%
32	HOE LEONG METAL & MACHINERY PTE. LTD.	80.7%
33	UMS SEMICONDUCTOR PTE LTD	80.3%
34	LEE METAL GROUP LTD	79.2%
35	THE STRAITS TRADING COMPANY LIMITED	78.8%
36	AQUA-TERRA SUPPLY CO. LIMITED	77.7%
37	CLSA SINGAPORE PTE LTD	75.4%
38	INTER-ROLLER ENGINEERING LIMITED	74.3%
39	UNITED BUNKERING & TRADING (ASIA) PTE. LTD.	71.7%
40	ADANI GLOBAL PTE LTD	70.8%
41	JURONG TECHNOLOGIES INDUSTRIAL CORPN.LTD	70.0%
42	EGIS HEALTHCARE TECHNOLOGIES PTE LTD	68.1%
43	BROADWAY INDUSTRIAL GROUP LIMITED	66.9%
44	SUPER CONTINENTAL PTE LTD	65.0%
45	MONEY WORLD ASIA PTE LTD	65.0%
46	HI-P INTERNATIONAL LIMITED	64.2%
47	ECOM AGROINDUSTRIAL ASIA PTE. LTD.	63.2%
48	BAOSTEEL SINGAPORE PTE LTD	62.7%
49	LEE LATEX (PTE) LIMITED	62.6%
50	HUPSTEEL LIMITED	61.8%