Company Overview
1. Company Overview
Kato Manufacturing Co., Ltd. <6390> is a leading construction machinery manufacturer with a history of nearly 130 years since its establishment as an individual business in 1895. The management philosophy of the company is to contribute to society with excellent products. As a pioneer in the construction machinery manufacturer indispensable for the construction of social infrastructure, the company is currently developing its business mainly in construction cranes and hydraulic shovels. The company's strengths in product development stem from its focus on customers' needs, such as robustness, power and ease of operation, and has earned a high level of trust from customers.
As of the end of March 2024, the total assets were JPY 10,533.0 billion, the net assets were JPY 5,155.1 billion, the shareholder's equity was JPY 4,443.7 billion, the equity ratio was 47.9%, and the number of issued shares was 11,743,587 shares (including 26,853 shares of treasury stock). The head office is located in Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo, and the domestic manufacturing bases are deployed in the Ibaraki plant (Sashima-gun, Ibaraki prefecture), Gunma plant (Ota-shi, Gunma prefecture), Bando plant (Bando-shi, Ibaraki prefecture), and Tachikawa Business Office (Tachikawa-shi, Tokyo).
The group consists of the company, 5 consolidated subsidiaries, 1 unconsolidated subsidiary, and 6 affiliated companies. The consolidated subsidiaries are Kato (China) Engineering Machinery Co., Ltd. in China, Kato ChuJun (Xiamen) Construction Machinery Co., Ltd. (changed its name from IHI-ChuJun (Xiamen) Construction Machinery Co., Ltd. in 2019) in Italy, KATO IMER S.p.A., KATO EUROPE B.V. in the Netherlands, and ICOMAC, INC. in the United States. The equity method affiliates are Koyon Precision Machinery Co., Ltd. and COMPACT EXCAVATOR SALES, LLC. In addition, KATO WORKS (THAILAND) was dissolved and liquidated in February 2022, taking into account the local market environment. In accordance with local laws, the necessary procedures have been completed and the factory has been sold.
2. History
Kato Iron Works was founded in 1895 as an individual business and reorganized as Kato Manufacturing Co., Ltd. in 1935. After that, the company expanded its product lineup to include manufacturing items such as truck cranes, hydraulic shovels, rough terrain cranes and all-terrain cranes. In addition, in 2016, IHI Construction Machinery Co., Ltd. was acquired as a subsidiary (renamed KATO HICOM Co., Ltd., and absorbed by the company in 2018), and the product lineup was expanded to include crawler cranes, mini shovels, and crawler carriers. Overseas, the company has been expanding in China, Europe, and the United States since the 2000s.
In terms of stocks, it was listed on the second section of the Tokyo Stock Exchange (TSE) in 1962 and transferred to the first section of the TSE in 1970. In April 2022, it was transferred to the prime market in line with the TSE's review of its market classification.
(Authored by FISCO guest analyst Masanobu Mizuta)