With 12 firms, India tops Forbes list of Asia’s Fabulous 50 Companies
By Editor on Sep 25, 2007 in Information Technology
Washington, (IANS) India has more companies on the latest listing of 50 biggest firms in the Asia Pacific region compiled by Forbes magazine, including four of its biggest information technology outsourcers.
Out of the other eight companies that make the business magazine’s third annual ‘Fabulous 50′ list, ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank and Bharti Airtel are growing fast by reaching out to India’s rural customers and not to the Western markets.
Others, such as Grasim, Larsen and Toubro and Reliance, are shoring up the country’s infrastructure at a furious pace.
Also of note, the Fabulous 50 companies are on an acquisition spree. Tata Steel bought Britain’s Corus Group, despite being much larger in size and the price tag of $13 billion. Corus includes the remnants of British Steel. “The irony was not lost in India,” Forbes said.
Seven of the companies on the Forbes list come from China. That is more than in any previous year. China may be the workshop of the world, but all its companies featured rely on domestic customers, the magazine noted.
To compile its list, Forbes looked at long-term profitability, sales, earnings growth, stock price appreciation and projected earnings for every company in the region with revenues or market capitalisation of at least $5 billion.
India’s dozen in the list comprises Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd (BHEL), Bharti Airtel, Grasim Industries, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, Infosys Technologies, Larsen and Toubro (L&T), Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL, Satyam Computer Services, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), Tata Steel and Wipro.
This is what Forbes had to say about them:
BHEL: Sales leapt 30 percent last year. It recently won a contract to build three new power plants to supply to the capital’s grid, adding to its already-full order book.
Bharti Airtel: India’s largest cell phone provider doubled the number of signalling towers last year and pledged to double them again this year. The company aims to cover 75 percent of India’s largely rural population and plans to launch a satellite TV service within a year.
Grasim Industries: Cement and rayon don’t usually mix, but Grasim has made a success of both. It is the first cement company in the world to earn carbon credits by using alternative fuels and has earned $2 million selling credits to Europe already.
HDFC Bank: India’s third-largest bank by market capitalisation is in the midst of a credit surge. It raised $600 million in July to meet demand for loans from Indian companies and consumers.
ICICI Bank: India’s largest private-sector bank is also its most innovative. It defied a flat period in the market to raise $5 billion in new equity-the largest share offering India has ever seen. It has global ambitions, and is opening branches all over Asia and the Middle East. It bought a Russian bank in 2005.
Infosys Technologies: Doubled sales and profits in the last two years. It took over three of Philips Electronics back-office processing centres and signed a $250 million outsourcing contract.
Larsen and Toubro: India’s largest engineering and construction company is winning contracts both at home and abroad with new orders pouring in from the oilfields of the Middle East. Chairman A.M. Naik plans to triple revenues to $15 billion by 2015.
RIL: Sibling rivalry seems to have heightened the breathtaking ambitions of chairman Mukesh Ambani. Even after the dramatic break up of the family group last year, Reliance Industries still claims the title of India’s largest private-sector enterprise.
Satyam Computer Services: Smallest of India’s big four outsourcers, Satyam’s sales have tripled in the last five years and its workforce has grown even faster. It is trying to reduce dependence on the US market - the source of 64 percent of its revenues.
TCS: India’s biggest IT outsourcer writes software for clients American Express among others. It seems, the bigger TCS gets, the faster it grows. The company’s revenues leapt 45 percent in the last year, the market cap has doubled since listing three years ago. TCS earns nearly all of its revenues overseas but will move some of its work back to India as the strong rupee begins to pinch.
Tata Steel: Made history with the $13 billion takeover of Britain’s Corus Group, prompting headlines about a postcolonial payback. It raised $4 billion in equity and $7 billion in debt to finance the deal. Together with its 2005 purchase of NatSteel, Tata will have capacity of 28 million tons, making it the world’s sixth-largest steel producer.
Wipro: The appreciating rupee is eating into margins but making acquisitions more attractive. It is buying a New Jersey data-centre firm for $413 million and planning a software development centre in Atlanta. All these are part of a plan to become more of an “in-sourcer” and less of an “outsourcer” by bringing in more non-Indian employees.
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