Confident Kanamoto

Japanese rental giant Kanamoto has reported a stable first half, with a slight increase in revenues but dip in operating income for the six months to the end of April.

Kanamoto reported first half revenues of JPY68.6 billion (€554 million), up 0.4% year-on-year. Operating income stood at JPY8.6 billion (€70 million), compared to JPY10.7 billion (€92 million) for the same six months in 2015.

Chairman and CEO Kanchu Kanamoto said, “In the construction industry that is the Kanamoto Group’s main customer, earthquake restoration works and disaster countermeasure works in various regions were continued.

“While redevelopment projects in the Tokyo metropolitan area also increased, and demand in this region was vigorous as well, in other parts of Japan the pace of spending on public works projects on the whole eased somewhat because the government opted to not enact a large supplementary budget like the one implemented in the same period of the previous fiscal year.

“On the other hand, negative aspects in the form of higher labour unit costs resulting from a shortage of construction workers and a sharp rise in the cost of raw materials also were manifest.

Work has also begun on two major projects, the 2020 Olympics and Paralympic Games to be held in Tokyo and the Linear Shinkansen.

“Based on the concentrated investment projected over the short term, and our conviction that construction equipment rentals must play an even greater role in the future, we will maintain our organisation for responding rapidly to demand.”