Asia remains biggest source of overseas revenue for Singapore companies

SINGAPORE - Singapore companies continued to expand overseas but Asia remained their top source of overseas revenue, according to an annual study released on Thursday (Jan 29).

The Singapore International 100 (SI100) ranking also found that China was the dominant overseas market for the top 100 local companies, contributing more than a third (36.6 per cent) of their offshore revenue.

The SI100 ranking is part of a Singapore 1000 compilation of rankings, published by DP Information Group, which tracks the top-performing locally-incorporated companies here by annual turnover.

The 2015 rankings are based on the financial period under review of June 1, 2013, to May 31, 2014.

The SI100 corporations saw an overall increase in overseas revenue, rising 0.8 per cent from $223.9 billion for 2014 to $225.8 billion this year.

A separate ranking of the 100 top SMEs (SI100 SMEs) saw a 0.6 per cent increase in overseas revenue, rising from $1.78 billion in 2014 to $1.79 billion this year. International operations accounted for 81 per cent of sales for these SMEs, up from 79 per cent in 2014.

Said Ms Ng Wee Lee, head of Emerging Corporates, ANZ Bank Singapore: "The continued revenue growth among the SI100 companies and SI100 SMEs show that internationalisation remains a top priority for home-grown enterprises looking to drive sustainable growth."

"In addition, the revenue breakdown by market reflects the preference of companies to focus their expansion closer to home - in China for the SI100 companies and in ASEAN markets such as Malaysia and Indonesia for the SMEs."

ANZ is the key sponsor of DP's ranking compilation.

The top company within the SI100 in terms of overseas sales was Wilmar International, with overseas sales of $55.1 billion. It was followed by Olam International, with overseas sales of $20.2 billion.

For the SMEs, Britoil Offshore Services came in top with overseas sales of $95.9 million, followed by Heng Long Leather at $88 million.

The top 1000 companies in Singapore have been the driving force behind Singapore's recovery from the global financial crisis, adding an $1.23 trillion in sales in the last five years.

Across sectors, commerce-wholesale companies topped in the 2015 rankings, followed by the information and communications sector and the commerce-retail sector.

mleeyy@sph.com.sg

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