Tat Hong Holdings, Asia Pacific’s largest crane company posted a 36-percent increase in revenue in its fiscal first quarter of 2013 ended June 30. The Singapore-based company, which claims to have the world’s largest crawler crane fleet, grossed S$215.3 million (about U.S. $172.2 million) compared to the same period a year ago when it reported S$158.4 million.
Driven by robust revenue growth from all of the group’s divisions, Tat Hong’s gross profit surged 51 percent for the quarter to S$84.5 million. Gross profit margin increased 3.9 percentage points to 39.2 percent as a result of improved rental rates and higher utilization rates from the Tower Crane rental division, and better pricing from the company’s Distribution division.
Crane rental revenue jumped 64 percent from S$48.4 million a year ago to S$79.6 million. General equipment rental revenue increased 9 percent to S$24.5 million, while tower crane rental revenue leapt 26 percent from S$14.9 million to S$19.1 million. Distribution revenue hiked 27 percent to S$92.1 million.
Crane rental also increased its rental to overseas markets such as Papua New Guinea and Vietnam. Its Malaysian unit’s rental to oil and gas and LNG projects, and its Thailand unit’s rental to the construction of the country’s flood-prevention barricades contributed to higher numbers. Its Australian group found greater demand from the LNG industry, port expansion, a desalination plant, while its General Rental division had greater demand in Australia construction and mining.
“We have built up a strong customer base and, with our expertise as the leading crane rental company in Asia, we are on a strong footing to further capitalize on growth opportunities in the Asia Pacific region,” said Tat Hong managing director Roland Ng. “Going forward we see robust demand as governments in Southeast Asia and China continue to invest heavily in infrastructure. The group is also well-positioned to benefit from oil and gas, mining, construction, engineering and rebuilding activities in the region.”
