BIL second largest firm in Australia

Press, 2 September 1986, Page 28

BIL second largest firm in Australia

NZPA correspondent, ROBERT LOWE Sydney Mr Ron Brierley’s New Zealand corporate machine, Brierley Investments, Ltd, is the secondlargest company in Australia, behind only the “Big Australian” BHP. Less than a year after listing in Australia, Brierley Investments is second in the top 100 companies in Australia, according to a list published in the Australian Financial Review.

And giving the New Zealand corporate raider a double hit, Brierley’s Australian offshoot, Industrial Equity, Ltd, is holding down fifth spot in the list, which was compiled last Friday.

Other New Zealand or New Zealand-dominated companies featured include Fletcher Challenge at twelfth, Goodman Fielder at twenty-second and Chase Corporation at twenty-fifth place. The latest survey shows the marked rise of corporate raiders on the Australian financial landscape.

In March, 1983, eight of the 10 top companies

were miners, with banks making up the balance. Today, only two resource groups feature in the top 10 — BHP and CRA. Apart from BIL, entrepreneurial investments companies dominating the leading places include News Corp, lEL, Bell Resources, Ltd, and Elders IXL. lEL has jumped from seventy-sixth with a capitalisation of sAustll2.7 million (SNZI42 million) in March, 1983, to fifth with a capitalisation of sAust2.7 billion. Brierley Investments, which was listed in Sydney last November, is capitalised at sAust3.3 billion. Its value has more than

doubled in the past 10 months.

According to analysts, the strength of the Australian and world sharemarkets are among the reasons for the growth of entrepreneurial companies.

Such companies had benefited from successful share trading, well-judged acquisitions and lack of exposure to fluctuations in international commodity prices, they said. Growth had invariably been through take-overs. Only banks have retained their position over the past three years. Westpac remains ai sixth, but its capitalisation has jumped from $l.Ol billion in 1983 to $2.47

billion. ANZ, ninth in 1983 at $722 million, is today eleventh at $2.01 billion. The top 10 at August 29, 1986: BHP (market capitalisation, $9888M), Brierley Investments ($3296M), News Corp ($3017M), CRA ($2966M), lEL ($2685M), Westpac ($2473M), Coles Myer ($2221M), National Australia Bank ($2148M), Bell Resources ($2131M), Elders ($2123M). . The top 10 at March 18, 1983: MIM ($2111M), BHP ($2107M), CRA ($2013M), WMC ($1171M), Comalco ($1096M), Westpac ($1013M), Bougainville ($963M), CSR (S9I2M), ANZ ($723M), Santos (S6B2M).