Record profits for Japanese builders

This week, three of Japan’s largest general construction firms posted positive half-year results.

Kajima reported half-year net income of JPY 50.9 billion (US$ 484 million), more than twice that of the same period in 2015.

Obayashi announced net profits for Q2, 2016, of JPY 41.5 billion (US$ 402 million); this represents a 49% rise on its Q2 result in 2015.

Finally, Shimizu’s results for the quarter showed a JPY 35 billion (US$ 339 million) net profit, up 46% on the same period last year.

Large-scale reconstruction work in Tokyo is seen as being largely responsible for the impressive figures for construction firms.

A note of caution was sounded by Kajima’s senior executive officer, Hironobu Takano, however, who said he was “alarmed by rising labour costs”.

Furthermore, both Kajima and Obayashi have forecast a fall in gross profit margins on completed projects for the six-month period ending in March.