Indian firms top Asia's 50 best performers list

NEW DELHI: Two domestic firms-Siemens India and Unitech have made to the top of a list of Asia's 50 best performing companies, compiled by international financial magazine BusinessWeek, which includes a total of 10 Indian companies such as DLF, TCS, Tech Mahindra and ITC.

India has the maximum representation in the list, followed by China's eight and six from Hong Kong.

Siemens India, the domestic unit of German conglomerate Siemens AG, and real estate major Unitech have been ranked at the first and the second positions and are followed by China's Alibaba.com, China Molybdenum and Japan's Inpex Holdings in the top five.

A total of seven Indian companies have made to the top 20 positions-drugmaker Cipla (sixth), ABB India (12th), Tech Mahindra (13th), Hindustan Zinc (17th) and DLF (18th).

Other Indian companies on the list include BHEL (27th), ITC (45th) and TCS (50th).

The rankings, compiled by Standard & Poor's Compustat, are based on average return on capital and sales growth over the past three years, BusinessWeek said.



The magazine said that this year's ranking of Asia's best-performing companies attests to the continuing dynamism of India and Greater China. Among sectors, infrastructure and high tech made the strongest showings, it noted.

There are eight companies from China, six from Hong Kong, five each from Indonesia, Taiwan and Pakistan, four from Singapore, three from Korea and two each from Japan and Malaysia.

The magazine said that this year's winners are "companies that are focusing on business at home".

"With weak economies in the US, Europe, and Japan hurting demand for exports, many of Asia's biggest names are missing from our list this year," it said, adding that names like Toyota, Taiwan Semiconductor and Infosys -- Asian companies that traditionally depend on strong sales in the US and Europe have not made much of an impression this year.

"Our top-ranked company this year, Siemens India, the Indian subsidiary of the German conglomerate, is taking advantage of New Delhi's push to build the country's infrastructure. Close behind Siemens India, Unitech is a property developer concentrating on building for the growing Indian middle class in cities like Noida, a boom town near Delhi.

"Indian pharmaceutical company Cipla is number 6, benefiting from the popularity of its drugs that often cost less than those of bigger-name Western rivals," it added.