(From left) The Edge Malaysia editor-in-chief Kathy Fong, CIMB Group Holdings Bhd group CEO Datuk Abdul Rahman Ahmad, Kotra Industries Bhd's national sales manager Simon Piong, Deputy Finance Minister II Steven Sim and The Edge Malaysia publisher and CEO Datuk Ho Kay Tat. (Photo by Mohd Izwan/The Edge)

KUALA LUMPUR (Sept 4): Melaka-based pharmaceutical group Kotra Industries Bhd on Monday took home the grand award of Centurion of The Year at The Edge Malaysia Centurion Club Corporate Awards 2023, in recognition of it being the best overall performer among Bursa Malaysia’s listed companies with a market capitalisation of less than RM1 billion.

On top of that, and for the third consecutive time, the company took home all three awards under the healthcare sector for achieving highest profit after tax (PAT) growth, highest return on equity (ROE), and highest return to shareholders over the last three years — making it the biggest winner of the night.

In total, 33 of the country's best performing publicly listed small and mid-cap companies with a market cap of at least RM100 million but under RM1 billion were named winners of 35 awards at The Centurion Club Corporate Awards, which returned for their third iteration on Monday night since it was first launched in 2019.

It is the second series of awards under The Edge’s banner to recognise the achievements of Corporate Malaysia after The Edge Billion Ringgit Club, which focuses on companies with a market cap of at least RM1 billion.

Other notable winners of the night included Kenanga Investment Bank Bhd and VSTECS Bhd, who took home two sectoral awards each for highest PAT growth and highest return to shareholders over three years for the financial services sector and technology sector. There are a total of 12 sectors with three sectoral awards each. (See table of winners)

The Edge Media Group publisher and chief executive officer Datuk Ho Kay Tat, in congratulating the winners, highlighted that only those profitable throughout the evaluation period, including the tough pandemic years of 2020 to 2022 that disrupted so many businesses, were eligible to be considered for the PAT growth and ROE awards.

“We believe there are hidden gems among some of tonight’s winners that may now get noticed by institutional investors. By recognising their achievements, we also hope to encourage them to scale new heights in their business journey, create more good paying jobs and contribute to the economic well-being of the country. To the winning companies, tonight is a celebration of your success, resilience and tenacity,” said Ho.

Deputy Finance Minister II Steven Sim, who graced the event as the guest of honour and presented the awards to the winners, described the winners as “champions of the business world”. He also invited them to join in “the national mission to catch up” with the best in technology and innovation and be among the top businesses in the world.

CIMB Group Holdings Bhd, who has been a key supporter of the awards since 2019, returned as the main sponsor of the event this year. Group CEO Datuk Abdul Rahman Ahmad said the group was honoured to once again join hands with The Edge in celebrating the outstanding companies who are making great strides in their respective fields.

“Our warmest congratulations to this year’s winners... We hope the recognition will serve as encouragement for the business owners to push boundaries and set higher standards for their business to continue to evolve and elevate to the next level. We believe that the positive growth achieved by the business community will help catapult our economy to be on a stronger footing moving forward,” said Abdul Rahman.

Kotra Industries national sales manager Simon Piong, meanwhile, said his team was surprised by their awards haul. “We know we did well but winning the grand prize was unexpected. This is an important external recognition for us, for our team’s efforts,” he said, adding that the wins were more special as they were based on the group’s actual, measurable performance.

“There are not many genuine awards out there. So this one will definitely be a great motivation for us,” added Simon, who is the son of Kotra Industries’ managing director Piong Teck Onn.

Besides the specified market cap range (at least RM100 million but less than RM1 billion), companies that qualify for inclusion in the Centurion Club must be listed on Bursa Malaysia as at end-March of the current calendar year, must not be suspended or be under Bursa's watch list, and must not be delisted before the date of the awards.

As of March 31 this year, there were 485 Centurion Club members — as opposed to 488 members last year and 423 members in 2019 — with an estimated collective market cap of RM158.90 billion, down slightly from last year’s RM160.86 billion.

To be considered for the awards, a member of The Edge Malaysia Centurion Club must be listed for at least four calendar years before the cut-off date of end-March of the current year. Those eligible to be recognised for highest ROE and PAT must be profitable for every year during the evaluation period, which is 2019 to 2022.

More on The Edge Malaysia Centurion Club members and this year’s award winners will be published in a special pull-out of The Edge Malaysia’s Sept 18-24 edition.