This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, on June 20, 2016.

The Edge Media Group will once again recognise outstanding Malaysian corporations with the seventh instalment of the Billion Ringgit Club (BRC), where they will be judged not only in terms of profit but in corporate responsibility (CR) as well.

“We are looking forward to unveiling the best-performing companies over the past three years in the various categories on Aug 15,” says Ho Kay Tat, publisher and group chief executive officer (CEO) of The Edge Media Group.

Stepping in to sponsor the BRC this year are OCBC Bank (M) Bhd, Swiss luxury watchmaker Jaeger-

LeCoultre, Qatar Airways and Mercedes-Benz Malaysia.

“I thank OCBC, Jaeger-LeCoultre and Qatar Airways for their continuous support of BRC and welcome Mercedes-Benz back as our partner,” Ho adds. “It is these partnerships that enable us to carry on with this prestigious corporate awards event.”

Banking giant OCBC has been the main sponsor of BRC since its inception in 2010. OCBC senior vice-president and head of corporate and commercial banking Jeffrey Teoh says OCBC is happy to support The Edge Media Group in this event as it is “something that is worthwhile and right to do”.

“The recognition given to the winners of the various categories this year is a testament to their ability to achieve profitability in a tough global environment and commitment to corporate objectives and corporate conscience,” he adds. “The Edge Billion Ringgit Club has etched for itself a position as a holistic gold standard for the ranking of the top publicly-listed billion-ringgit companies in Malaysia, built on the power of sustained relationships and their commitment to giving back to society.”

Jaeger-LeCoultre’s passion for corporate responsibility ties in perfectly with BRC’s objectives as well, which is why it is sponsoring the event for the second time. Since 2008, it has worked tirelessly with United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (Unesco) to protect the 47 Unesco World Heritage marine sites.

Believing that ethics begins at home, the sourcing of all of Jaeger-LeCoultre’s diamonds, gold and leather are monitored carefully. Besides that, it has stayed true to its origins by carefully controlling its expansion and meeting high standards in terms of construction, transport and energy, and water conservation.

The CEO of the Company of the Year will receive a Duomètre Unique Travel Time watch, courtesy of Jaeger-LeCoultre.

Asserting itself as an absolute reference in terms of mechanical watchmaking, it is the first world-time watch that enables to-the-minute adjustment of the second time zone. This enables travellers to accurately set the second time zone for all continents and countries.

The watch is divided into two distinct mechanisms: The first is devoted to displaying the local time and the second to showing the time in another time zone. Each mechanism has a 50-hour power reserve and, to achieve ideal user-friendliness, the same crown serves to wind both barrels.

Coming back to sponsor the BRC for the second time — the first was in 2010 — is Mercedes-Benz Malaysia, which relentlessly pursues its ambition to be “the best or nothing”. Like companies in the BRC, Mercedes-Benz Malaysia seeks to uphold its innovative spirit and strives for perfection.

“This prestigious award, which recognises Malaysian corporations par excellence, is certainly in line with our practices of pursuing a high-performance culture and excelling in our respective business fields,” says Mark Raine, vice-president of sales and marketing at Mercedes-Benz Malaysia.

Qatar Airways is a second-time sponsor of the BRC as well. Country manager of Malaysia & Brunei Datuk Muzammil Mohamad says the BRC symbolises quality and growth borne from hard work, something that Qatar Airways identifies itself very closely with.

In 2015, it won Airline of the Year at Skytrax, something Muzammil says inspired its staff to excel in the airline service industry.

“The recognition of elite companies creates an atmosphere of healthy competition that benefits consumers while sending a credible third-party signal to customers as to which are the businesses they can trust,” he says.

The BRC recognises companies with a market capitalisation of RM1 billion and above as at March 31. Companies are added to the annual list automatically once they fulfil the requirements and are evaluated based on growth in profit before tax, returns to shareholders and CR commitments, among others.

The BRC awards include the Value Creator: Malaysia’s Outstanding CEO, The Edge BRC Most Profitable Company, The Edge BRC Highest Profit Growth Company, The Edge BRC Best Performing Stock, The Edge BRC Best CR Initiatives and the coveted Company of the Year Award.

Previous winners of the Value Creator: Malaysia’s Outstanding CEO award were Public Bank Group chairman Tan Sri Teh Hong Piow, CIMB group chairman Datuk Seri Nazir Razak, AMMB Holdings Bhd chairman Tan Sri Azman Hashim, AirAsia group CEO Tan Sri Tony Fernandes, former Malayan Banking Bhd president and CEO Datuk Seri Abdul Wahid Omar and former

S P Setia Bhd president and CEO Tan Sri Liew Kee Sin.

From this year, real estate investment trusts, which were previously grouped in a combined sector with property companies, will be recognised as a sector in its own right. In addition, companies with a market cap of more than RM10 billion have been separated into two separate categories: super big cap companies with a market cap of more than RM40 million, and big cap companies with a market cap of between RM10 billion and RM40 billion.