This article first appeared in The Edge Malaysia Weekly on September 16, 2024 - September 22, 2024

The 2024 chapter of The Edge Billion Ringgit Club (BRC) Awards is especially memorable, not only because it is the 15th year for the awards — that started in 2010 as an initiative by The Edge Malaysia to recognise, honour and celebrate the biggest and best of Corporate Malaysia — but also the year in which The Edge Malaysia celebrates its 30th anniversary of reporting news that matters.

Thank you for your presence at the BRC gala dinner on Aug 23. We believe this is possibly the only time in the year that top executives of companies across all sectors listed on Bursa Malaysia are gathered.

Just four years ago, in 2020, we had to do without a physical awards ceremony because of social distancing measures that were in place to flatten the Covid-19 curve. There were no handshakes in 2021 when we gathered again with many wearing masks and individual hand sanitisers provided on every table. We have indeed emerged stronger from the experience.

If excellence becomes a habit and not just lip service, Corporate Malaysia is bound to reach greater heights. The strong measurable performance delivered by many of our BRC winners shows the fruits of their sweat and labour. And the BRC members’ commitment to corporate responsibility (CR) is them sharing some of those fruits to build up the community around them while contributing to the country’s tax coffers, robust employment as well as stellar economic growth.

To help readers make better business and investment decisions, this year, The Edge introduced AskEdge: 12 things you must know about any stock listed on Bursa Malaysia and the Singapore Stock Exchange (SGX). Our readers would have noticed the QR code that can be scanned to access the information on our webpage — the CEO Morning Brief as well as our flagship The Edge Malaysia weekly. We have also included the QR code in the 2024 BRC special pullout.

This year’s BRC gala dinner saw 55 awards presented to 40 companies, including for CR.

At 188, the number of The Edge BRC members for 2024 — companies listed on Bursa Malaysia with a market cap of at least RM1 billion at the cut-off date of March 31 — is at a record high, just above the all-time high of 186 in 2021. This year’s 188 BRC members command a market cap of RM1.67 trillion or close to 90% of the combined market cap of all Bursa Malaysia-listed companies as at March 31, 2024. 

BRC members continue to be major taxpayers, paying an estimated RM36 billion in taxes for FY2023, comparable to FY2021 and significantly higher than RM23 billion for FY2020 and RM28 billion for FY2019.

This year’s Company of the Year, Gamuda Bhd, not only outperformed the index over three and five years but is also among CR winners.

Public Bank Bhd group managing director and CEO Tan Sri Tay Ah Lek, this year’s Value Creator: Malaysia’s Outstanding CEO is truly an admirable person by any standard, well-acknowledged among peers.

I thank our distinguished partners, OCBC Bank Malaysia and Mercedes-Benz Cars Malaysia, for their steadfast support in honouring, recognising and celebrating Corporate Malaysia’s continued excellence. The Edge BRC awards ceremony and gala dinner would not be the prestigious and Corporate Malaysia’s most anticipated annual gathering that it has become without their ardent support.

Congratulations to all winners! We look forward to celebrating Corporate Malaysia’s crème de la crème again next year!

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