Chinese contractors take top four global places

The four largest contractors in the world are all Chinese state-controlled companies, according to the 2015 edition of International Construction’s ranking of the world’s 200 biggest construction companies.

China State Construction & Engineering (CSCEC) retained its no.1 spot from last year’s ranking, while second placed China Railway Group overtook China Railway Construction, which is in 3^rd position this year. New to the top four is China Communications Construction, which has pushed France’s Vinci into 5^th position.

As last year, CSCEC was the only US$ 100 billion+ per year contractor on the list. The top four Chinese contractors had total revenues in 2014, the year on which this year’s rankings are based, of US$ 375 billion.

Elsewhere in the top ten there was little movement from last year, with major European groups like Bouygues, ACS, and its majority-owned German arm Hochtief, ranked with the biggest contractor in the Americas, Bechtel, and yet another Chinese state-owned entity, MCC.

Total revenues for the global Top 200 came to US$ 1,629 billion, which was a record and made it the thirteenth straight year the group’s sales have grown, albeit by just +0.3%. The overall operating margin for the Top 200 was 4.79%, an improvement on the previous year’s profit level of 4.65%.

Total employment by the Top 200 was put at 4.6 million people, a -6.5% decline on the previous year’s figure of 4.9 million staff. The average Top 200 contractor has just over 24,500 staff.

The full Top 200 report, along with in-depth analysis of global, regional and national contractor trends is published in the July- August edition of International Construction. Click here to register for a FREE subscription to the magazine.

Global top 10 contractors