[Company analysis] Shimizu Corporation (清水建設)

「Shimizu Corporation(清水建設)」is a Japanese general construction company established in 1937 and was included Japan's big five general contractors(「Obayashi Corporation(大林組)」, 「Kajima Corporation (鹿島建設)」, 「Taisei Corporation (大成建設)」, 「Shimizu Corporation(清水建設)」,「Takenaka Corporation (竹中工務店)」). This company is particularly strong in private construction. The "Abenomics effect" and the robotics business have recently increased their sales significantly. The number of consolidated employees is 15,722.

 

1. Company Profile

2. Summary and Features

3. Major Business

4. Financial Information

 

 

 

1. Company Profile

 

※Unit is JPY million, as of 2019

Company name	Shimizu Corporation
Company name (Japanese)	清水建設
Date of establishment	Tuesday, August 24, 1937
Headquarters location	〒104-8370 東京都中央区京橋二丁目16番1号
Capital	74,365
Consolidated sales	1,664,960
Consolidated operating profit	129,724
Consolidated total assets	1,860,794
Consolidated capital	735,242
Capital adequacy ratio	39.5%
Consolidated number of employees	15,722

 

 

 

2. Summary and Features

 
「Shimizu Corporation」 is the company with the longest history among the five super general contractors.  Founded in 1804, it has a history of more than 200 years. 「Shimizu Corporation」has long history among Japanese companies. Unlike other super general contractors, in sales activities, there is a tendency to avoid large-scale construction project that neglects profitability as much as possible, and rather accept orders for small and medium-sized construction projects.

Speaking of specialized fields, 「Shimizu Corporation」specialize in medical institutions construction, and in civil engineering, LNG tanks construction. An interesting point is that they have a plenty of experience in the construction of Japanese shrines and temples. This is based on the history of this company. The founder of 「Shimizu Corporation」, Simizu Kisuke, who has been involved in the construction of many temples. Currently, it is the only super general contractor that owns a woodworking plant for the construction of shrines and temples.

「Shimizu Corporation」has seen a sharp increase in net income recently. The main reason is robot development.  The Abenomics effect is blowing a breeze into the Japanese economy, but labor shortages problem have not  been solved. Especially in the case of the construction industry, 「shortage of labor → extension of the construction period → increased financial costs」and this may directly cause fatal losses.

To solve this problem, 「Shimizu Corporation」has developed a "rebar cultivation root transport robot" together with robot development companies「ATOUN」and「SC Machinery」, and launched it in the construction of the Tokyo outer circulation road in 2016. Recently, They have begun developing unmanned tunnel excavation technology by combining artificial intelligence and construction.

 

 

 

3. Major Business

 

■ Building business
「Shimizu Corporation」provides planning, proposal, design, implementation, operation, and maintenance of various buildings such as offices, factories, schools, and hospitals. Especially for medical and welfare facilities, they are best in Japan. In addition, this company have many achievements in the construction of traditional buildings such as shrines and temples and recently they are actively using robot technology for construction to improve productivity.

■ Civil engineering business
The design, construction, and renewal of civil engineering structures such as tunnels, bridges, dams, urban civil engineering, and energy facilities are also one of Shimizu's projects. Since completing Japan's first underground LNG tank in 1970, nearly half of the existing large underground LNG tanks in Japan have been constructed by「Shimizu Corporation」.

■ Overseas construction business
This company have begun overseas expansion in the 1970s, and now have construction experience in about 60 countries. Established a branch office in Singapore in 1974 and got involved in the construction of production facilities, skyscrapers, hospitals, bridges, and subways around the world, mainly in Southeast Asia.

■ Real Estate Development Business
Utilizing the technology and know-how accumulated in the construction business,「Shimizu Corporation」are also  developing real estate such as office buildings and logistics facilities. In 2011, they decided to expand their real estate development business such as conducting condominiums, data centers and office building to overseas especially Southeast Asia.

■ Frontier Business
This company are actively engaged in pioneering fields such as the ocean development business, space development business, and nature coexistence business.

 

 

 

4. Financial information

 

※Unit is JPY million

		2016	2017	2018
Consolidated sales		1,567,427	1,519,435	1,664,960
Consolidated operating profit		128,835	121,373	129,724
Consolidated total assets		1,688,197	1,796,341	1,860,794
Consolidated net assets		576,879	656,330	735,242
Breakdown of sales	Construction	1,237,784	1,190,293	1,335,184
	Investment・Development	17,902	31,860	25,193
	Others	311,740	297,281	304,582