Steady results at Kanamoto

Japanese rental company Kanamoto has reported a 6.2% year-on-year increase in revenues for fiscal 2015 to JPY133 billion (€999 million), and forecast stable results in 2016.

The company said operating income for the year ended 31 October, 2015, decreased 1.1% year-on-year to JPY16.3 billion (€122 million), while net income was up 2.8% to JPY9.6 billion (€72 million).

Kanamoto said that construction equipment rental demand trended briskly in its core construction-related business during fiscal 2015. It said this partly reflected a pickup in certain redevelopment projects in the Tokyo metropolitan area, together with private-sector capital investments. Earthquake reconstruction projects and decontamination-related work also fuelled demand.

However, the company added that in other regions the business environment was weak as there was no construction work related to the Japanese government’s supplementary budget, as was the case in the previous fiscal year.

During the 12 month period, Kanamoto said it opened eight new branches and closed one branch.

Looking ahead to 2016, Kanamoto said it expected solid construction demand to continue in the Tohoku and Tokyo metropolitan areas, including earthquake-restoration demand and Olympic-related construction and refurbishment.

However, it said public works projects in some other regions were likely to remain weak, leading to an overall harsh business environment.

In terms of overseas expansion, Kanamoto said it planned to “aggressively move forward” with strong local companies, mainly in Asia where it sees future growth potential.

The company’s revenue forecast for 2016 is for JPY134 billion (€1 billion), up 0.5% year-on-year. Operating income is expected to reach JPY16.3 billion (€123 million), up 0.4% compared to 2015.