This article is from the Australian Property Journal archive
PROBUILD has topped the HIA-CoreLogic Construction 100 Report for 2016/17, as public infrastructure projects move to fill the impending breach left by a drop-off in apartment building.
The Victoria-based contractor was named as the most active construction company in the Australia with $6.12 billion in project value, having taken advantage of the booming apartment markets in Melbourne and Sydney, and demand for mixed-use developments as it jumped from last year’s fifth position.
Lendlease remained in second spot with $5.3 billion awarded during the 2016/17 year, mostly for civil engineering work, community construction projects and commercial construction.
Multiplex came in at third with $5.14 billion, and John Holland and CPB Contractors rounded at the top five as a result of heightened public sector investment in transport infrastructure in major capital cities.
However, CPB has dropped from its first-place finish last year as its mining-related work plummeted from $1.75 billion last year to around $7 million.
Its $13.6 billion of work that saw it top the charts was more than double of what took Probuild to do the same this year.
Official figures released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics showed total construction value for the June quarter was nearly $51.67 billion, seasonally adjusted. Building accounted for just under $27 billion (down by 2.2% year-on-year); residential more than $17.525 billion (down 3.5%); non-residential over $9.471 billion (up 0.2%), and engineering increased by 18.7% to almost $24.673 billion.
HIA’s principal economist Tim Reardon said the changing mix of work within the construction sector is clearly evident.
“The scale of the mining project downturn on the engineering construction side means that levels of expenditure have slowed for three consecutive years between 2014/15 and 2016/17,” he said. “Looking ahead we expect that the impending slowdown in apartment building will be offset by further growth in public sector investment in infrastructure.”
Reardon said business confidence is also showing signs of improvement, a signal that demand for construction from the private sector could also strengthen.
“This investment profile should ensure that the construction sector continues to be a significant driver of economic growth,” he added.
Engineering activity rose by 3.3% in 2016/17 compared with the first half of the year, which Reardon said “is the most encouraging news from this sector for a number of years”.
Australian Property Journal
