The resurgence of COVID-19 cases across the globe with the spread of Omicron variant and the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict have dented the aggregate market value of the top 50 Asia-Pacific (APAC) companies by about 6% in the first quarter (Q1) of 2022 (as of 31 March 2022), reveals GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company.

The top 50 list continues to be dominated by companies from China, which included 22 companies, followed by 10 from Japan, five each from India and Australia, three from South Korea, two from Singapore and one each from Hong Kong, Indonesia, and Taiwan.

There were 28 players that reported Q-o-Q decline in their market values with the most notable being Sea Ltd, Meituan, and Wuliangye Yibin, which lost 30% or more in their market caps.

Sea continued to witness further Q-o-Q slump of 46.2% in its market value in Q1 2022 after reporting a 29.5% drop in Q4 2021.

Parth Vala, Company Profiles Analyst at GlobalData, comments: “Earlier in the quarter Tencent sold about 14.5 million shares of Sea worth about $3bn. This was further aggravated by geopolitical tensions between India and China, which led India to ban the Free Fire game, Sea’s highest grossing gaming platform in India. On top of these, the company reported widening net loss in 2021, which increased annually by about 26%.”

China-based food delivery giant Meituan witnessed its market value come crashing by about 31% in Q1 2022, on account of the government’s new mandate to cut down on food-delivery fees to restaurants to reduce the costs of the businesses. The mandate also directed to offer preferential fees to the restaurants in the pandemic-hit regions.

Chinese alcoholic beverage manufacturer Wuliangye Yibin lost 30% in its market value due to rise in commodity prices, largely owing to Russia-Ukraine crisis, and imposition of lockdown in view of record rise in COVID-19 cases.

Some of the better performers were China Shenhua Energy and BHP, which saw their market value rise by about 30% or more over the previous quarter.

Vala comments: “Mining and energy companies such as China Shenhua Energy and BHP have been befitted from the rally in commodity stocks due to supply chain shortages due to the ongoing pandemic, which was further aggravated by Russia-Ukraine conflict.”

China Shenhua Energy reported about 44% annual increase in its net profit in 2021 due to strong market demand for coal and rising coal prices. The company reported 8% growth in its coal sales volume and 43% increase in average sales price.

In terms of sector break-up, financial services companies led the top 50 with a count of 17 and an aggregate market value of $2.1 trillion, followed by technology with 14 enterprises and aggregate market value of $2.5 trillion.