Singapore Tops SEA’s Fortune 500 with Commodity Giant

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Singapore-based commodity firms and energy companies from Thailand and Indonesia dominate Southeast Asia’s largest companies by revenue, according to the inaugural regional edition of the Fortune 500 List released on Tuesday.

Fortune, known for its annual list of the 500 largest U.S. companies by revenue and other global editions, introduced the Southeast Asia 500 ranking due to the region’s rapid economic growth and increasing global significance amid a supply chain shift.

Topping the 2023 revenue list is Singapore-headquartered commodities trader Trafigura Group, followed by Thailand’s oil and gas conglomerate PTT and Indonesia’s Pertamina.

Trafigura, founded in 1993, operates major regional hubs in cities like Geneva, London, Houston, and Mumbai. The company, which trades base metals, minerals, and energy, reported $244 billion in revenue for fiscal 2023. This performance comes despite the multinational giant facing mounting overdue debts and legal issues, including a $126.9 million settlement for bribing government officials in Brazil.

The top-ranking companies indicate that Southeast Asian economies are still heavily reliant on traditional industries like energy and banking, unlike the U.S. Fortune 500 list, which features tech giants like Amazon and Google-parent Alphabet. Singapore-based e-commerce and gaming company Sea was the highest-ranking internet services company in Southeast Asia, positioned at No. 20.

The top 10 companies on the Southeast Asia 500 list accounted for over a third of the total revenue of all listed companies. Five of these top 10 companies are based in Singapore, including agribusinesses Wilmar International and Olam Group, electronics manufacturer Flex, and Southeast Asia’s largest lender by assets, DBS Group Holdings.

The ranking includes revenue from consolidated subsidiaries and discontinued operations, with bank revenues calculated as the sum of gross interest income and non-interest income. The minimum revenue threshold for inclusion was $460.8 million.

Indonesia leads the list with 110 companies, followed by Thailand with 107, Malaysia with 89, Singapore with 84, Vietnam with 70, the Philippines with 38, and Cambodia with two.

In terms of profit, Singapore’s DBS topped the list, with Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp. and United Overseas Bank also in the top five. Six of the top 10 most profitable companies are commercial banks.