Leighton tops Construction 100

Construction giant Leighton has topped the list of Australia's 100 largest commercial construction companies for 2006-07. It is the third year in a row that Leighton has topped the list.

The ninth annual Housing Industry Association-Australian Industry Group-Reed Construction Data Construction 100, released today by New South Wales premier Morris Iemma, shows that in a year when commercial construction by the private sector increased by 16.5% to $75.8bn, the Leighton Group won contracts worth more than $11bn. HIA executive director of housing and economics Simon Tennent said over 2006-07 the largest 100 companies won contracts worth $55.3bn, the highest value in the history of the report. The contracts won over 2006-07 were equal to 68% of all non-residential construction work started.

“The largest 10 companies accounted for 55% of work won by the 100 largest companies, while the largest 20 companies accounted for 71% of work won,” Tennent said. The Leighton Group, through Leighton Contractors, Thiess Contractors, John Holland, and HWE Contracting, won contracts across all areas of construction except for multi-unit housing. Abigroup was second on the list with $4.6bn worth of work covering all construction areas except multi-unit construction and mining, while BGC Construction was third with $2.6bn worth of construction spread across all sectors, except for the industrial segment. Tennent said contracts won by the Construction 100 in 2006-07 increased more than four-fold to a new record high.

“The previous high was $41.4bn reached in 2003-04. For the largest companies, the fastest growing segment of the market was the civil engineering sector where the value of work won was more than 10 times larger than in 2005-06,” he said.

“Total industry starts surged ahead by 41% over 2006-07. Starts increased by 129% over 2001-02 [to] 2006-07, a clear testament to the strength of the current up-cycle.” Ai Group chief executive Heather Ridout said the publication's release came at a time when the construction sector as a whole had recovered to 30-year highs in terms of its share of national output and employment.

“The industry should continue to grow solidly over the next few years, driven by the mining and infrastructure sectors, though skills shortages remain an ongoing concern,” she said.