But diversification is the key to surviving the downturn, Hoy says, adding that companies which haven’t looked far enough ahead and expanded their offerings will fall by the wayside when the economic trouble is over.
“Predominantly companies will look to develop a niche and work themselves well into that niche so they are a key player. This is great in the good times, but will turn against you in the down times. If there’s no real opportunity available it’ll be harder to keep going.”
“Whether or not companies will die off is hard to say, but certainly and unfortunately these times tend to weed out the cheaper operators. That’s good for the industry, to see those go who aren’t giving value for money. It’s never good to see a company go down, but I think some may find themselves in that position.”
Hoye says the company focusses on several different areas, such as office construction and fit-out and even greenfield developments, which keeps them busy enough to survive.
“We’ve found downturns are inevitable, but being placed in a position such as ours makes us look up for other opportunities. We have a fairly diverse knowledge of the market, and we focus on many areas, not just refurbishment and fit-outs.”
“But we are seeing a lot more tenders starting to be released, and we are looking at getting work from the Government’s stimulus packages for schools. There is confidence, but it will slowly start to come back more and more.”
|
COMPANY |
REVENUE 2008 ($m) |
REVENUE 2007 ($m) |
GROWTH (%) |
|
Yuanda Australia |
28,947,745 |
641,839 |
44.1 |
|
Walton Construction |
115,594,772 |
3,965,172 |
28.2 |
|
Pamada |
1,261,203 |
58,085 |
20.7 |
|
Walton Construction (QLD) |
64,019,762 |
3,662,942 |
16.5 |
|
Reeves Construction Services |
20,000,000 |
1,400,000 |
13.3 |
|
Profine Constructions |
10,000,000 |
969,204 |
9.3 |
|
Salta Constructions |
234,005,416 |
27,322,262 |
7.6 |
|
APC Constructions |
6,539,880 |
1,336,872 |
3.9 |
|
Uniport Australia |
17,137,923 |
4,290,262 |
3.0 |
|
Str8 |
1,000,000 |
300,000 |
2.3 |
|
Aspect Construction Group |
2,191,743 |
690,375 |
2.2 |
|
Ariadne Australia |
85,967,000 |
29,388,000 |
1.9 |
|
Gemsam |
7,171,077 |
2,659,064 |
1.7 |
|
Reed Construction (QLD) |
105,798,441 |
44,525,417 |
1.4 |
|
Cooper Connell |
10,057,273 |
5,367,274 |
0.9 |
|
Ribshire |
107,549,140 |
58,501,783 |
0.8 |
|
HMA Of WA |
2,000,000 |
1,100,000 |
0.8 |
|
Wylie & Skene |
90,466,797 |
50,231,135 |
0.8 |
|
Yakka Build |
2,500,000 |
1,390,000 |
0.8 |
|
Diploma Group |
89,582,000 |
51,151,000 |
0.8 |
|
Farindon Constructions |
15,868,742 |
9,137,671 |
0.7 |
|
Monaco Hickey Group |
21,411,686 |
12,392,504 |
0.7 |
|
Sitzler |
42,325,575 |
25,327,653 |
0.7 |
|
Laing O’Rourke Australia |
982,269,000 |
599,938,000 |
0.6 |
|
Geraldton Building Services & Cabinets |
21,218,562 |
13,075,767 |
0.6 |
|
J. Hutchinson |
914,895,628 |
579,146,440 |
0.6 |
|
Multi Span Australia |
54,541,374 |
34,693,228 |
0.6 |
|
Coral Homes Qld |
138,742,723 |
88,836,912 |
0.6 |
|
2Construct |
36,113,678 |
23,312,982 |
0.5 |
|
Taylor Construction Group |
55,831,000 |
36,385,746 |
0.5 |
|
CMC Cairns |
60,136,514 |
39,300,211 |
0.5 |
|
Total Construction |
47,732,000 |
31,542,000 |
0.5 |
|
Doric Constructions (Australia) |
216,993,735 |
145,781,715 |
0.5 |
|
Devlyn Constructions |
17,490,872 |
11,802,336 |
0.5 |
|
CDK Commercial Construction |
17,172,000 |
11,720,000 |
0.5 |
|
Mac Homes |
209,980,737 |
143,403,810 |
0.5 |
|
Broad Construction Services (WA) |
117,604,777 |
82,215,680 |
0.4 |
|
Paulding Constructions |
27,409,438 |
19,294,672 |
0.4 |
|
Melbourne Construction & Coatings |
27,477,705 |
19,461,555 |
0.4 |
|
Brierty |
217,883,257 |
155,173,950 |
0.4 |
|
Matrix Group Project Services |
9,787,701 |
7,026,947 |
0.4 |
|
Colin Joss & Co. |
129,091,125 |
93,359,697 |
0.4 |
|
Henley Properties (Qld) |
150,642,000 |
109,270,000 |
0.4 |
|
Coral Homes |
88,346,849 |
64,250,767 |
0.4 |
|
UGL |
3,487,203,000 |
2,554,590,000 |
0.4 |
|
John Holland |
1,720,014,000 |
1,264,431,000 |
0.4 |
|
Cardinal Holdings (Aust) |
30,574,757 |
22,592,047 |
0.4 |
|
Neater Constructions |
10,746,659 |
7,950,060 |
0.4 |
|
Watpac |
866,783,000 |
643,551,000 |
0.3 |
|
T. F. Woollam & Son |
85,986,537 |
64,154,787 |
0.3 |
Patrick Stafford is a freelance journalist and a former deputy editor of SmartCompany.
