KUALA LUMPUR (April 6): AEON Co (M) Bhd (AEON Malaysia) has been named Brand of The Year in the Retailer-Departmental Stores category of the World Branding Awards, beating over 400 brands from 45 countries worldwide.

In a statement today, the retail group's managing director-cum-chief executive officer (CEO) Shafie Shamsudin said the recognition reflected its efforts to maintain customers' trust, and that the group will continue to provide the best shopping experience.

The World Branding Awards are organised by the World Branding Forum, a global non-profit dedicated to advancing branding standards. The prestigious award recognises ultimate global brand recognition, and winners are judged through three streams: brand valuation, consumer market research and public online voting. Seventy per cent of the scoring process comes from consumer votes.

At 10.21am today, AEON Malaysia had risen one sen or 0.78% to RM1.29, giving it a market capitalisation of RM1.8 billion.