A look at Private Companies in Oz Space - Separating the leaders from laggards

We have already talked about some of the best performing listed companies of the reporting earnings season in our previous article. And now is the time to discuss over AFR’s Top 500 Australian Private Companies’ List which is finally out. The list, highlighting the performance of Australian private companies, has been prepared on the basis of revenues reported in 2018-19.

Tibra Capital, an auxiliary finance and insurance player, reported maximum revenue growth of 142% to $324.45 million. While, Walter & Eliza Hall Institute, recorded largest revenue dip of 67.5% to $149.38 million.

Let us take a look at the top five and bottom five position holders (in terms of FY19 revenues) in that list:

In this article, we will discuss about these top and bottom five private companies in some detail.

Top Five Private Companies

Before delving into the details of these top five companies, let us take a look at the revenues posted by these companies in FY 2018-19 in the below table:

It can be seen that Visy, consistent with last year ranking, has performed the best in terms of revenue figure. While, Hancock Prospecting delivered a maximum increase in revenue during 2018-19 relative to the other four top performers, maintaining the last year’s spot. CBH Group and Meriton Group jumped one step up in the ladder with HCF climbing from 8^th spot to 5^th.

Let us now read about the top performers’ key business focus and their recent updates below:

Visy

Considered as a global leader in the paper, packaging and resource recovery industries, Visy has been leading the packaging innovation in Australia for more than 70 years. The company offers innovative, sustainable and high-quality packaging products and solutions to the customers.

Recent Updates

Recently, the company has launched the second intake of the WILO (Women in Leadership and Operations) Mentoring Program, giving an opportunity to the women mentored in last year’s program to mentor the next group of female leaders in Visy.

Visy Logistics has also received the award for the “most valued and innovative supplier contribution” for its diligent work in founding WA distribution centre and coastal services, that offered better speed to market benefits by lowering customer production order cycles from nine to three weeks.

Hancock Prospecting Group

Pioneer of the Australian Iron Ore Industry, Hancock Prospecting Group is one of the longest continuous holders of cattle stations in the country. The company is engaged in mineral exploration and development and holds interests in dairy, iron ore, beef, coal. The company’s goal is to bring a few of the country’s agricultural products and mineral resources to the market.

Recent Updates

The company recently published an update on the Four Eagles Project, which is held by the company in Joint Venture with Catalyst Metals Limited (ASX: CYL) and Gold Exploration Victoria. The company notified that Catalyst has reported high-grade gold intersection on the Four Eagles Project.

CBH Group

Leader in Australia’s Grain Industry, the CBH Group is the country’s largest cooperative whose operations are spread across the grain supply chain from handling, transport and storage to shipping, marketing and processing. The company’s core objective is to sustainably generate and return value to the existing and potential Western Australian grain growers.

Recent Updates

On 2^nd September 2019, the Group informed about its initial segregation plans for the 2019-20 harvest, providing the growers of Western Australia an early access to the grades and commodities that will be accessible at receival sites.

The group has also directed its grower members that an AUD 42.9 million shareholder loan has been granted to Interflour to balance current debt and equity levels, and assist the flour milling and malting business’ improvement plan.

Meriton Group

Australia’s apartment leader in design and quality, Meriton Group has grown to become the country’s most successful and largest residential developer. In over 56 years, the group has leased, sold and built more than 75,000 hotel suites and residential apartments across the Gold Coast, Sydney and Brisbane.

Recent Updates

As per a recent update, the Managing Director of Meriton, Mr Harry Triguboff, is selling off ninety-four holdings in his Rhodes waterfront development. The apartments are a part of Meriton’s Reflections project and are located in two low-rise buildings. The company is marketing the apartments in the range of $520k and $1.7 million.

HCF

Australia’s health insurance company, HCF works with an objective to make health care high-quality, affordable, customer-centric and understandable. The company offers innovative insurance solutions to people that value for money, easy to understand and provide peace of mind.

Recent Updates

In June this year, the company informed about the launch of out of pocket costs tool that has been proven massively successful in offering valuable information to the members on the range of out-of-pocket expenses levied by individual specialists for general procedures.

Bottom Five Private Companies

Let us move on to the bottom five private companies of the list. The revenues posted by these companies in FY 2018-19 are provided in the below table:

Australia’s sugarcane mill, Isis Central Sugar Mill, that has witnessed a significant fall of 15.5 per cent in their revenue in FY 2018-19, has been in the news recently for seeking foreign investment from Pakistan. The company is supporting Pakistan-based Almoiz Group’s bid to invest $35 million in the mill. However, the final decision regarding the investment would depend on the approval from the Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC) and the High Court.

Furniture retailer, CoCo Republic has also garnered attention for opening its first New Zealand store in the Westfield Newmarket mall. With this, the company has expanded its presence across New Zealand; however, it does not have any plan to open more New Zealand stores in the near future.

The earnings of the riders and losers in the 2019 list of Top 500 Australian Private Companies was partially influenced by the state of the economy. Experts believe that the fluctuations in the economy do impact the corporate earnings to a certain extent. We have already seen in our previous article that the effect of intensifying global worries and historic low interest rates prevailing in Australia was visible on the corporate earnings of listed companies reported during the August reporting season.

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