Good evening, ladies and gentlemen of Corporate Singapore.

Thank you for joining us in this annual event to acknowledge and celebrate exemplary companies listed on SGX.

First off, I would like to extend our appreciation to our sponsors who have helped make this evening possible — CIMB and BMW. A big Thank You.

Since the last edition of the Billion Dollar Club, the mood of Singapore-listed companies and the investment community is now a lot more upbeat. Thanks to the well-coordinated initiative of the Monetary Authority of Singapore and the Singapore Exchange, trading activity has improved in a big way. The Straits Times Index has finally reached new record levels after 17 long years.

The STI’s gains have been led by numerous blue chips. Led by competent professional managers, these companies have worked hard to grow their businesses and generate better earnings. They have also introduced shareholder-friendly moves such as more efficient use of capital, buybacks and higher dividends. They are now reaping the benefits of their hard work, and the best of them will be recognised tonight.

See also: From momentum to transformation: Building a relevant stock market

mute
But while these STI component stocks typically capture most of the headlines, we also want to recognise the many more small and mid-caps that make up the bulk of the companies listed on the SGX.

Often led by founder-entrepreneurs, many of them are burning with ambition to do more, do better, so that investors who believe in them will get to share the rewards and be part of what forms the backbone of the economy.

Many of these companies and company founders are here tonight as our Centurion Club winners. As these companies continue their growth journey, we look forward to seeing more of them become companies with a market cap of more than $1 billion and join the ranks of the Billion Dollar Club winners in the time to come.

I would like to congratulate all the Billion Dollar Club and Centurion Club winners tonight. You can read more about them in the special pullout that we will be publishing. 

See also: From uncertainty to opportunity: How CEOs are rewiring their strategy

I would also like to extend a big thank you to our two knowledge partners: EY, for making sure the results are in order, and Morningstar, for providing the relevant data so that we can include the critical elements of sustainability in our methodology.

And of course, we also want to thank SGX, where everyone has been working on overdrive, building ties with listed companies, brokers, investors, and the media like us at The Edge Singapore to help make the Singapore market a better one for all.

I also want to take this opportunity to update our friends and partners here tonight about ourselves.

For the past 10 years, The Edge Singapore and our property-focused title, EdgeProp Singapore, have been managed and distributed together. But as the respective ecosystems and market conditions have evolved, the two entities are now managed separately, and from January, the original real estate pullout ‘City & Country’ will return to replace EdgeProp Singapore as part of The Edge Singapore.

We look forward to all your support and partnership as we embark on this journey to reset ourselves.

Thank you, and have a wonderful evening of fellowship and celebration. 

Ho Kay Tat
Group CEO & Publisher
The Edge Media Group