Malaysia's Top 30 brands worth RM56.5b
The New Straits Times Press
September 18, 2007

The names of these brands, comprising only public-listed companies, will be unveiled on November 16 at a gala night organised by by the Association of Accredited Advertising Agents Malaysia (4As).

The 4As hired Interbrand to value Malaysian brands in what it hopes will become an annual affair.

"Brands are the engine of growth and wealth generation in companies. We need to recognise their hidden asset value and take them into shareholder value and gross domestic product," 4As president Datuk Vincent Lee told reporters at a press conference yesterday.

The study, based on publicly available data for the 2005 fiscal year, culminated in a list of 30 companies which Interbrand, using its internationally accepted valuation methodology, valued at RM56.5 billion.

"Most of these hidden assets are not recognised in shareholder or book value," Lee remarked

He hopes that Malaysia's Most Valuable Brands (MMVB), as the study is called, will be the benchmark for Malaysian brands and encourage manufacturers and emerging brands to move from being original equipment manufacturers to original brand manufacturers.

Brands such as Malaysia Airlines, CIMB and AirAsia are expected to be on the top 30 list. Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Najib Razak will be guest of honour at the gala night.

"This is not an award or beauty parade. It's an economic exercise to recognise Malaysia's top brands and their true measure," said Lee, adding that this is the first time in Malaysia that results were based on an independent valuation and not by company submission.

Interbrand, the world's leading brand consultant, has valued over 4,000 of the world's top brands.

For its study in Malaysia, Interbrand looked at brands which originate from here or are owned by a listed company headquartered here for at least 10 years. "Brands are rapidly becoming one of the most important sources of global wealth creation," its director of strategy, Andrew Martschenko, said.

He said about a third of the value of companies listed on the world's leading stock exchanges can be attributed to their brands.

View Original Article

Back to News Clippings