Teetering at the Top

Compiling a table of industrial companies and ranking them in terms of price to earnings tells you a lot about the industrial sector. First, many companies that appear here are entirely dependent on either the resources sector or the construction sector. Second, many are remarkably overpriced.
It's a mixed bag of stocks: CMA Corporation ranks the highest of all those listed, its key interests are in demolition and the recycling of steel products. The next two on the list have significant investments in technology: Salinas Energy is focused on renewable energy while Computronics develops technology and applications for industry.

The next most expensive on our list is waste management company Transpacific Industries. Transpacific’s share price exploded recently '” from $6.10 to $8.75 in the space of a few days '” when it announced its merger plans with Waste Management NZ.

Koon Holdings is typical of many companies in the list. It has interests in both engineering and transport, the two industries that feature most heavily in this list.

Other sectors that feature prominently are those that provide ancillary services for companies involved in either resources or construction; equipment hire, demolition, waste management and administration services are all over-represented.