Construction firms were once struggling to qualify, but now they are prominently appearing on the top ten spots for this year’s SME Growth Excellence Recognition Awards.
Compiled by HSBC Singapore and DP Information Group, five construction firms were among the top ten small- and medium-sized enterprises (SME) recognized for bringing significant growth in sales.
Aside from that, three of the 10 SME awardees which made it to the list in the most promising enterprise, overseas sales and credit ratings categories came from construction sector.
Firms from the construction sector also bagged out awards in categories such as Credit Rating Excellence, The Most Promising SME and Internationalization.
Those who won in this year’s awards include construction firms such as Gennal Industries, DLE M&E, LC&T Builder, Chye Joo Construction and CFE Engineers Asia.
DP Info selected the awardees based on the companies’ unqualified audited financial results from June 2008 to May 2009. It chose the top ten firms based on five categories – net profit, sales, growth in overseas sales, credit ratings and the most promising enterprises – which was identified according to its increase of percentage sales over a two-year period, and must have a revenue of $10 million to $20 million.
Firms were selected based on an analysis of their profits, sales, credit standing data and revenue from internationalization.
Chen Yew Nah, managing director of DP Info, said that the pickup of the construction sector could be attributed to the realization of large-scale projects like the integrated resorts. She added that the rise of the sector is likely to continue, given the fact that more construction and building projects are coming in Asia.
“In this region, there are a lot of new opportunities and therefore you are likely to see that the growth can be sustained. Many countries in this region are looking for infrastructural projects, build-ups, be it engineering-based or resource-based like water treatment companies,” Ms. Chen said.
“Asia is still growing . . . as more and more countries are up and coming, the focus will always be on construction first, be it roads, the infrastructure, the pipes, the wiring – everything.”