Peregrine, Thomas Foods top list of SA private companies on IBISWorld Top 500 list – but Sarah is the big mover
A builder has surged up the list of SA’s largest companies but two other major local firms have been smashed by the pandemic, with revenue plunging more than 30 per cent.
Business
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OTR owner Peregrine Corporation has retained its position at the top of a list of South Australia’s largest privately-owned companies with annual revenue nudging $3 billion.
According to annual figures compiled by research firm IBISWorld, the state’s top four private companies – Peregrine, Thomas Foods, CMV Group and Drake Supermarkets – all held their position, while packaging company Detmold cracked the top five on the back of an 11 per cent increase in revenue.
However, the big mover was commercial construction firm Sarah Group, which jumped from tenth to sixth spot as revenues surged by 44.9 per cent to $520 million.
Overall there were 30 South Australian companies on the IBISWorld list of Australia’s 500 largest privately-owned companies.
New entries included Sweat owner The Bikini Body Training Company and ZEN Energy, which was taken over last year from Sanjeev Gupta’s GFG Alliance by Adelaide businessman Raymond Spencer and leading economist Ross Garnaut.
All but one of the state’s top 10 companies reported an increase in revenue in their latest financial results, with Sarah Group the standout performer.
The family-owned business was established in 1961 and comprises of commercial construction contractor Sarah Constructions, Hindmarsh Plumbing and a stake in home builder Longridge Group.
Sarah has been a major beneficiary of the state government’s $1.3 billion education build, picking up major projects including the $100m secondary school in Whyalla and two new B-12 schools in Aldinga and Angle Vale.
Sarah Constructions chief executive Adrian Esplin said unlike in other states, construction sites in SA had been largely unaffected by Covid-19.
“We’ve got a lot of longstanding customers and we’re very strong across education, retail, aged care, retirement living as well as social infrastructure and typical commercial offices,” he said.
“We’ve kept all of that work going and then we’ve scaled up to pick up these almost super projects – the schools PPP (public private partnership) and Whyalla.”
Mr Esplin said the establishment of a modular construction facility in late 2020 had also delivered new opportunities for growth.
“November last year we set up that modular business and already we’ve delivered three schools, there are four in production now and another five to come,” he said.
“The next 12 months are looking strong, the private sector’s buoyant, in the government sector we’re going to see more in health, defence is going to keep rolling and there’s good social infrastructure – it’s a good time to be in construction over the next couple of years.”
According to IBISWorld, the top 500 private businesses across Australia generated $261.3bn in revenue, a 6 per cent increase on the previous year.
About 69 per cent of SA companies on the list recorded revenue growth.
Turnover at Murray Bridge-based Thomas Foods surpassed $2 billion on the back of growing global demand for meat, while car dealership group Peter Kittle Motor Company broke into the top 10 on the back of a 36 per cent increase in revenue.
However the Covid-19 pandemic has hit some industries harder than others.
Adelaide Airport suffered the largest revenue fall of all 500 companies on the IBISWorld list, down 39.7 per cent in the 12 months to June to $115.7 million.
Adelaide Airport managing director Mark Young said the past two years had been the most difficult in the airport’s history, but that it was well-placed for recovery once borders fully reopened.
“We’ve continued with the terminal expansion with brand new international departures and arrivals facilities to greet travellers once they’re able to fly overseas again,” he said.
“We’re also well advanced in our planned development of a new transport, freight and logistics hub in our Airport East precinct.
“There’s no doubt the pandemic has changed aviation forever.
“The future of aviation points to a continued shift towards new generation long haul aircraft and towards a point-to-point network model rather than the traditional hub and spoke. We believe both of these shifts will benefit Adelaide Airport.”
Michell Wool – the country’s oldest and largest wool processor – has also been hit hard by the pandemic, with revenues down 30.8 per cent to $124.2 million due to the massive fall in global apparel production.
According to IBISWorld, about 60 per cent of companies on the 500 list recorded revenue growth in 2020-21, a similar figure to the previous year but well below the three previous pre-Covid years when three quarters of companies on the list were growing.
“The lower proportion of companies recording growth is symptomatic of the continued effects of the Covid-19 pandemic on the economy throughout the year,” IBISWorld said.
“On the other hand, many companies were able to return to growth as restrictions eased in other parts of the country. The pandemic also provided some businesses with opportunities to grow, such as many in the motor vehicle and other discretionary retail sectors, and transport and medical sectors.”
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