HDFC, Kotak Bank in Forbes' Asia Fab 50 list

Mumbai: HDFC Bank and Kotak Mahindra Bank have pipped their Chinese peers in the Forbes Asia's 'Fab 50' list this year. HDFC Bank, the country's most valued bank with the largest market capitalisation, and Kotak Mahindra Bank are the only two banks from Asia in the list, and among the 11 companies from India in the 2012 edition of Forbes Asia's Fab 50, HDFC Bank said in a statement in Mumbai.

By the end of Friday's trade, HDFC Bank had a market value of Rs 1,39,246 crore, while Kotak Mahindra Bank which rose 0.7 per cent on Friday had a market capitalisation of Rs 42,827 crore.

Against this, the largest lender SBI had m-cap of Rs 1,26,661 crore and ICICI Bank had Rs 1,07,123 crore. While HDFC Bank rose only 0.60 per cent on a day when Sensex rallied 2 per cent, or 337 points, SBI rose 1.9 per cent and ICICI soared 4.7 per cent.

HDFC Bank said it was in the Forbes list for five consecutive years (from 2005 to 2010).

The four largest Chinese banks - Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, Agricultural Bank of China, Bank of China, and China Construction Bank together have market capitalisation of nearly a trillion dollars.

India stands in the second spot after China, which tops the list with as many as 23 companies making the top 50. Last year, there were seven companies from India in the survey.

The 'Fab 50' list this year is a testament to companies which are weathering the economic slowdown and are still growing across markets like Asia, the US and Europe.

"A slowing economy weeds out the merely good companies from the truly great ones," writes Forbes magazine.

Tata Consultancy Services and HCL Technologies have made a comeback into the list this year. Other domestic companies in the list include drug major Sun Pharmaceutical, which is making its debut, Asian Paints, Bajaj Auto, Bharti Airtel, ITC, Tata Motors and Titan Industries.

The top 50 companies are chosen from a list of 1,295 companies that have at least $ 3 billion in annual revenue or market cap, with return on equity, price to earnings ratio, share price movements, etc., being key parameters.