Ladies and gentlemen,

A very good evening and a warm welcome to everyone.

After a two-year hiatus because of Covid-19, we are happy to be able to have our Gala Dinner and Awards night and to see all of you here.

The inaugural The Edge Malaysia Centurion Awards dinner was held in 2019. CIMB Malaysia was our launch partner and, at that time, YB Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Abdul Aziz was the CEO. We would like to thank YB for the support and also express our appreciation that CIMB Malaysia, under Datuk Abdul Rahman Ahmad, has continued with the partnership to recognise and celebrate the success of the country’s best-performing mid-cap companies with a market capitalisation of below RM1 billion.

So much has happened since 2019 and many things are still happening today that are keeping everyone busy, not least of all YB Tengku Zafrul, with Budget 2023 just three weeks away. He has nonetheless kindly found time to be our guest of honour for the evening. Thank you, YB.

Ladies and gentlemen,

When we launched The Edge Malaysia Centurion Club Awards in 2019, we said the purpose was to recognise the best-performing companies listed on Bursa Malaysia with market cap below RM1 billion — the hidden gems that may not be on the radar of research analysts and institutional investors, some of whom are also here tonight and, hopefully, they will take note of tonight’s winners and start looking at them.

The awards are meant to also encourage companies to be more efficient, competitive and successful so that they are able to grow sustainably and responsibly.

While we surely do not want another pandemic like Covid-19, the devastating disruption to businesses has actually provided us with the chance to see which companies were resilient in the face of one of the toughest periods in human history.

These are the companies that were able to come out of the pandemic in good shape because they had solid foundations in both their business model and management capacity — helped, no doubt, also by the financial support and stimulus packages crafted by YB Tengku Zafrul and his team at the Ministry of Finance.

We will recognise some of these companies tonight.

This year, there are 488 Centurion Club members, and 29 of them will be picking up a total of 36 awards that will be given out, including the grand award — Centurion Company of The Year.

The awards will honour companies across 12 sectors for achieving: (i) The Highest Growth in Profit After Tax over Three Years; (ii) The Highest Returns to Shareholders over Three Years; and (iii) The Highest Return on Equity over Three Years.

It must be noted that to win an award, a company must have three years of continuous profitability — which means all the winning companies tonight were profitable throughout the pandemic years.

In short, tonight’s winning companies have proven their resilience through the most difficult of times.

Congratulations to all of you.

Ladies and gentlemen,

I would like to once again thank CIMB Malaysia for their partnership and YB Tengku Zafrul for graciously honouring us with your presence and to give out the awards.

Thank you and have a great evening.

Performance-based

The Edge Malaysia Centurion Club Corporate Awards recognise the country’s best-performing small and mid-sized companies that are listed on Bursa Malaysia. To be a member of this elite group, the company must:

1. be listed on Bursa Malaysia as at March 31 of the current calendar year;
2. not be suspended, under the stock exchange’s watchlist or subsequently delisted, prior to the date of The Edge Malaysia Centurion Club Corporate Awards;
3. have a reasonable profile among Malaysian investors; and
4. have a market capitalisation of more than RM100 million but less than RM1 billion.

The qualifying market capitalisation will be based on the amount as at the last trading day of March of the current calendar year, that is March 31 for 2022.

The market capitalisation and other financial data used by The Edge in the determination of companies that qualify for The Edge Malaysia Centurion Club and the winners of The Edge Malaysia Centurion Club Corporate Awards are provided by Asia Analytica Data Sdn Bhd (formerly known as The Edge Markets Sdn Bhd).

Winners assessed on three aspects

The Edge Malaysia Centurion Club Corporate Awards recognise member companies across 12 sectors that achieve the following:

1. The Highest Returns to Shareholders Over Three Years;
2. The Highest Growth in Profit After Tax (PAT) Over Three Years; and
3. The Highest Return on Equity (ROE) Over Three Years.

The 12 sectors are:

•  Construction
•  Consumer Products and Services
•  Energy
•  Financial Services
•  Healthcare
•  Industrial Products and Services
•  Plantation
•  Property
•  Real Estate Investment Trusts
•  Technology
•  Telecommunication, Media and
•  Utilities
•  Transport and Logistics

An overall best performer — Centurion of The Year — is chosen by evaluating the members’ overall scores in terms of: returns to shareholders over three years (30% weightage), growth in PAT over three years (40%) and ROE over three years (30%) (see table).

Eligibility

To be eligible for the awards, a Centurion Club member needs to have been listed for at least four calendar years as of the last trading day of March of the current calendar year, that is, March 31 for 2022.

Members eligible for the Highest Growth in PAT Over Three Years and Highest ROE Over Three Years awards must be profitable every year throughout the evaluation period.

The calculation of PAT growth is also subject to a risk-weight factor component to recognise the importance of consistency in profit delivery throughout the evaluation period, as well as a multiplier that recognises that companies with a larger profit base will find it more challenging to grow their earnings relative to those with a smaller profit base.

The ROE is weighted to recognise the importance of sustainable and improving ROE over the assessment period, with the latest financial year (2021) carrying a 50% weightage, the year prior to that carrying 30%, and the earliest year carrying 20%.

Winners of the Highest Returns to Shareholders award are based on total returns, consisting of share price gains over a three-year period, subject to a share price multiplier. The cut-off date this year was March 31. Share prices are adjusted for any rights/bonus issues, distribution of Treasury shares, dividend in specie, capital repayment and dividends received — where the entitlement date falls within the specified period.

There could be cases of joint winners for the awards.

The Edge Malaysia has full discretion to not name a winner for a particular category or present the award to the company with the next highest score.

THE EDGE MALAYSIA CENTURION OF THE YEAR AWARD

It is determined based on the following:

Evaluation Component	Weightage to Overall Score (%)
Returns to shareholders over three years	30
Growth in PAT over three years	40
Weighted ROE over three years	30

The Edge Malaysia has the discretion to select one of the top-ranked companies for the award