SA’s top companies in 2022: 50 to 26
Four of SA’s largest civil construction and demolition companies make the top 50 in the annual countdown of the state’s top 100 companies for InDaily’s South Australian Business Index 2022 – the state’s most definitive guide to our most successful companies.
Those in this segment of the rankings for 2022 include McMahon Services followed by Ahrens Group, Badge, and Doneilyn Pty, which is better known as the Sarah Group.
While revenue normalised this year after a stellar FY21, it has still been a tumultuous period, according to latest data collated for the Index by Adelaide financial services firm Taylor Collison.
Construction was booming across the state with support from government-backed infrastructure and enhanced economic activity earlier in the year, but toward the end of the fiscal period, supply issues and rising material costs set in.
This impacted mainly large home builders dealing with fixed price contracts as inflated project delivery costs ate into profit margins. Taylor Collison said at least 15 builders went into administration across Australia in the second half of FY22.
In SA, major construction companies managed to hold their strong positions on the index with robust balance sheets, tenure power and diverse operations.
High yields and strong livestock demand from international and domestic markets also saw the agriculture sector fare well. In this segment, family pastoralists AJ and PA McBride lifted five places in the rankings to 39 with $41 million in revenue.
Agricultural asset manager Duxton Water was listed at 40 and Renmark-based grower cooperative AlmondCo was in the mix along with the family-owned Michell group of companies with its wool exports.
NeuRizer Ltd is an innovative company producing a carbon-neutral urea fertiliser – the building block of crop production around the world. It lifted 23 places to 44 on the list.
Global markets also rocked the automotive industry with supply chain problems like factory shortages leading to manufacturers like Ford ceasing production. At the same time, demand for new cars skyrocketed particularly for 4x4s and work utes as the state experienced escalating local spend and local holidaying.
While supply issues frustrated car dealers the higher prices still led to revenue growth, Alice Car Centre Pty Ltd (Peter Kittle) is listed at 41 – up four places.
Independent Pub Group Holdings Pty Ltd (GM Hotels) now has a portfolio of 11 hotel venues across the state. Its recent sale of the Emu Hotel for $32 million is the largest sum ever fetched for a single Adelaide pub.
Among its portfolio is the Pier Glenelg, The Tower Hotel in Norwood, Whitehorse Tavern, and The Rosey in Adelaide CBD. The group also manages the Republic Norwood.
Meanwhile, Thomson Greer has established itself as a leading national law firm and the largest originating in South Australia. Having aggressively expanded in the past 10 years it now employs 560 staff and 137 partners across Australia.
Others in this section of the list include defence, engineering services and technology solutions company Nova Systems with $346 million revenue, and SAGE Group, up 11 places at 46.
SILK Laser Australia Ltd continued to perform well with a 38 per cent increase in revenue to $81.3 million as it continued to meet demand for its laser hair removal, cosmetic injectables, skin treatments, body contouring and skincare products .
The Galipo Food Company now has more than 180 staff and a fleet of 52 trucks to service cafes, restaurants, hotels, aged care facilities and schools.
To be eligible for the Index, businesses must be a South Australian entity incorporated in SA, have a head office in SA, or be an SA-operated entity, majority owned by South Australians.
Each company is ranked by Taylor Collison by market capitalisation using the following formula:
- ASX – market cap (share price plus the number of ordinary shares on issue).
- Private entities – estimate market cap considering company revenue, industry standard profit margins and applying earnings multiple.
50. Galipo Food Co
Sector: Food and beverage | Revenue: Undisclosed | Last Year’s Ranking: 49
The Galipo Food Company now has more than 180 staff and a fleet of 52 trucks to service cafes, restaurants, hotels, aged care facilities and schools.
49. SILK Laser Australia Ltd
Sector: Beauty and cosmetics | Revenue: $81.3 million | Last Year’s Ranking: 58
SILK Laser Australia Ltd has a string of clinics providing laser hair removal, cosmetic injectables, skin treatments, body contouring and skincare products .
48. Independent Pub Group Holdings
Sector: Hospitality | Revenue: $105.3 million | Last Year’s Ranking: 62
Operates and owns 11 hotel venues and a range of retail liquor outlets in South Australia. Among its portfolio is the Pier Glenelg, The Tower Hotel in Norwood, Whitehorse Tavern, The Rosey in Adelaide CBD, and the group also manages the Republic Norwood.
47. Elixir Energy Ltd
Sector: Energy | Revenue: – | Last Year’s Ranking: 43
Gas exploration and development company focused on exploring Mongolia for natural gas.
46. SAGE Group
Sector: Information technology and equipment | Revenue: $157 million | Last Year’s Ranking: 57
Specialist industrial services provider focused on engineering and automotive solutions, SAGE has project consultancy, delivery, and expertise to digitise businesses.
45. Camms
Sector: Professional services | Revenue: $31 million | Last Year’s Ranking: 52
Camms offers business software with integrated solutions for project to help clients manage risk and optimise performance.
44. NeuRizer Ltd
Sector: Agriculture | Revenue: – | Last Year’s Ranking: 67
Neurizer is the first carbon neutral producer of urea fertiliser in Australia, the agricultural nutrient is made in South Australia to reduce the carbon footprint linked to transport.
43. Australian Vintage Ltd
Sector: Food and beverage | Revenue: $260 million | Last Year’s Ranking: 46
Leading Australian wine company with a fully integrated wine business model including vineyards, boutique and bulk wine production, packaging, marketing and distribution. Australian Vintage Limited is global wine company and its four pillar brands are McGuigan Wines, Tempus Two, Nepenthe and the Barossa Valley Wine Company.
42. Andromeda Metals Ltd
Sector: Mining | Revenue: – | Last Year’s Ranking: 26
Andromeda explores for kaolin-halloysite, gold and copper deposits, with its primary target the Great White Kaolin project near Poochera on the Eyre Peninsula. Kaolin-halloysite deposits can be transformed into high-quality products and new technologies at the forefront of science in building a more sustainable future.
41. Alice Car Centre Pty Ltd (Peter Kittle)
Sector: Automotive | Revenue: Undisclosed | Last Year’s Ranking: 45
Alice Care Centre is an entity of the Peter Kittle Motor Company and its automotive dealerships. It has seven dealerships in Adelaide, Alice Springs, Port Lincoln, Tottenham, Deer Park, Clare Valley and Mildura.
40. Duxton Water Ltd
Sector: Agriculture | Revenue: $20.4 million | Last Year’s Ranking: 47
South Australian investment firm with water entitlements across the Murray-Darling basin.
39. AJ & PA McBride Ltd
Sector: Agriculture | Revenue: $41 million | Last Year’s Ranking: 44
Sixth-generation family-owned company with a diverse range of agricultural assets and one of Australia’s largest wool producers.
38. Doneilyn Pty Ltd (Sarah Group)
Sector: Building and construction | Revenue: Undisclosed | Last Year’s Ranking: 25
Privately owned Deoneilyn Pty Ltd trades as Sarah Group and builds commercial and residential buildings with both Sarah Constructions and Hindmarsh Plumbing under the banner.
37. Badge Group Holdings Pty Ltd
Sector: Building and construction | Revenue: $446 million | Last Year’s Ranking: 40
Badge is a privately-owned construction group delivering commercial projects across Australia from offices in Adelaide, Brisbane, Maroochydore and Perth.
36. AlmondCo Australia
Sector: Agriculture | Revenue: Undisclosed | Last Year’s Ranking: 39
AlmondCo was established as a grower’s cooperative and now counts more than 80 per cent of all almond growers in Australia as contributing members, it produces more than 100 almond products at its award-winning processing facility in Renmark, South Australia.
35. Thomson Geer
Sector: Professional services | Revenue: $202 million | Last Year’s Ranking: 51
Thomson Greer is a large corporate law firm with 560 staff working from offices in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth and Adelaide.
34. Detmold Holdings Pty Ltd
Sector: Packaging and printing | Revenue: $617 million | Last Year’s Ranking: 37
Detmold group is a paper and board packaging products manufacturer established in 1948. The Australian family-owned and operated business, supplies some of the world’s largest and most iconic food and retail brands.
33. Ahrens Group Pty Ltd
Sector: Building and construction | Revenue: $563 million | Last Year’s Ranking: 36
Construction, engineering and mining services company delivering a range of services from design, steel fabrication and procurement through to construction and project delivery.
32. Chrysos Corp Ltd
Sector: Mining | Revenue: – | Last Year’s Ranking:
Chrysos Corp combines science and software to produce timely quantitative data and drive optimisation through the value chain in the mining industry.
31. McMahon Services
Sector: Building and construction | Revenue: $526 million | Last Year’s Ranking: 34
McMahon Services is a privately-owned industrial construction and environmental services provider.
30. Michell Group
Sector: Agriculture | Revenue: Undisclosed | 31
Michell is Australia’s oldest and largest exporter of Australian Wool fibre with more than 150 years history. From the global headquarters in Adelaide, the Michell family oversees a company with manufacturing and processing facilities in Australia and China, a network of agents and business partners.
29. Beyond Bank Australia Ltd
Sector: Financials | Revenue: $219 million | Last Year’s Ranking | 28
Customer-owned bank bringing together financial organisations to provide banking services, community investments, grants and sponsorships.
28. Nova Systems
Sector: Defence, information technology and equipment | Revenue: $346 million | Last Year’s Ranking: 33
Engineering and technology solutions company working on some of the nation’s largest defence projects with global offices in the United Kingdom, New Zealand and Norway.
27. ResourceCo
Sector: Infrastructure and transportation | Revenue: $285 million | Last Year’s Ranking: 32
Founded in 1993, the waste services company is a global leader in the recovery and recycling of waste and soil, extracting maximum value from materials otherwise destined for landfill. The company aims to construct additional alternative fuel plants and purpose built power generation plants using renewable energy biomass and rubber based fuel sources.
26. Clearlight Investments Pty Ltd (San Remo)
Sector: Food and beverage | Revenue: Undisclosed | Last Year’s Ranking: 29
Clearlight Investments trades as the famed San Remo pasta company, it now has a manufacturing facility in Adelaide along with offices and distribution centres throughout Australia, exporting to 35 countries throughout the world. San Remo contracts local growers to grow its top quality Durum wheat.
READ MORE:
Companies 100-76 on the 2022 South Australian Business Index
Companies 75-51 on the 2022 South Australian Business Index
The full list of 100 companies will be revealed in InDaily on Thursday.