Your client is a private equity investor targeting Malaysian small to mid-sized companies (SMEs) for Southeast Asia expansion. Seeks financially healthy, high-growth private companies.

Task objectives:

1. Using the "SME Corp_MSMEs in 2015-2023” file, project the number of MSMEs in 2024 using the 2019-2023 CAGR. Round the calculated CAGR to two decimal places using normal rounding rules before calculating the number of MSMEs in 2024. Round the calculated number of MSMEs to the nearest whole number.

2. Using the "SC MTC Companies” file, determine the number of Malaysian MTCs; assume that the reported number is for the year 2024.

3. Using the “Orbis_Malaysian Companies Data” file, identify the total number of companies meeting the following investment criteria:

   • a) Average EBITDA margin (rounded to one decimal) over the years 2022 to 2024 is at least 15%. Note: To calculate this average EBITDA margin, sum the EBITDA margins for all available years between 2022 and 2024 for a company and divide by the number of years for which data is available, and then round to one decimal. For example, if a company has EBITDA margin data only for 2023, and 2024 (missing 2022), calculate the average as (EBITDA_2023 + EBITDA_2024) ÷ 2.
   • b) Exclude companies that report any EBITDA margin greater than 90% (without rounding) during the 2022–2024 period to avoid unrealistic profitability outliers.
   • c) Report how many companies meet both criteria.

4. From the qualified companies from Task 3, identify the top three industries (use "BvD sectors" as an indicator of industry) by volume (e.g., how many times they are represented in the dataset). For each of the top three industries:

   • Calculate the median and the top quartile EBITDA margins (using the rounded company-level averages from 3a).
   • Round answers to one decimal place.
   • State the number of companies in each of the top three industries.