Seven Philippine Firms Recognized in Forbes Asia's 2026 Best Under A Billion List

Seven Philippine companies have been recognized in Forbes Asia’s 2026 Best Under A Billion list, which honors small and midsized publicly listed firms across the Asia-Pacific region. This year’s list includes A. Soriano Corp., Apex Mining Co. Inc., Asia United Bank, Far Eastern University, Pryce Corp., STI Education Systems Holdings Inc., and Vivant Corp.

The Best Under A Billion list features 200 companies that have annual sales exceeding $10 million but less than $1 billion. Forbes Asia noted that the selected firms are navigating the complexities of geopolitical tensions and volatile energy markets, with many benefiting from sectors such as artificial intelligence, semiconductor manufacturing, electric vehicles, and renewable energy.

Among the Philippine firms, Asia United Bank led with annual sales of $505 million (approximately ₱30.8 billion) and a net income of $221 million (around ₱13.5 billion). Apex Mining reported annual sales of $357 million (approximately ₱21.8 billion) and a market value of $1 billion (about ₱61.5 billion), making it one of the largest local companies on the list. Pryce Corp. reported sales of $370 million (around ₱22.6 billion) and a net income of $65 million (approximately ₱4 billion), while A. Soriano Corp. achieved sales of $256 million (about ₱15.6 billion) and earnings of $95 million (around ₱5.8 billion).

Other notable mentions include Vivant Corp., which generated $177 million (about ₱10.8 billion) in sales and $47 million (approximately ₱2.9 billion) in net income, Far Eastern University with $100 million (around ₱6.1 billion) in sales and $36 million (about ₱2.2 billion) in net income, and STI Education Systems Holdings, which posted $97 million (approximately ₱5.9 billion) in sales and $38 million (around ₱2.3 billion) in earnings.

“It highlights that competitive businesses can emerge from the Philippines despite operating in a smaller capital market and a more challenging business environment than many of their regional peers.”Toby Allan C. Arce, head of sales trading at Globalinks Securities and Stocks, Inc.

Toby Allan C. Arce, head of sales trading at Globalinks Securities and Stocks, Inc., emphasized the significance of this recognition, stating that it underscores the ability of local listed companies to compete alongside peers across the Asia-Pacific region. He further noted that the diversity of the companies represented—from financial services to education, mining, and energy—indicates that opportunities for value creation exist across various sectors of the Philippine economy.

The selection process for the Forbes Asia list involved evaluating over 19,000 publicly listed companies based on a composite score that includes metrics such as debt, sales growth, and earnings-per-share growth over the most recent one- and three-year periods, as well as one- and five-year average returns on equity. The financial data used for this evaluation was current as of July 10, 2026.

China dominated the list with 28 companies, followed by India with 27 and Malaysia with 19. Notably, 60 firms returned from the previous year’s list, demonstrating a consistent level of performance among the recognized companies.