Minaean International Corp. (MIB.V) is a leader in innovative light-gauge steel construction technologies. The Vancouver-based company currently operates two wholly-owned subsidiaries, Minaean Building Structures in North America and Minaean Habitat India (PVT) Ltd. in India.
Minaean provides complete in-house design, engineering, prefabrication, supply and installation services for modular buildings which feature light-gauge steel, load-bearing wall panels and integrated flooring systems. These structures are capable of being assembled, delivered, and installed within 7 to 10 days, and have both commercial and residential uses. These strong, affordable, ecologically sustainable modular structures present a promising solution to the massive housing shortages in developing countries. Minaean’s current focus is to penetrate the massive housing market in India, where Minaean has been active since 2001. The company currently has two active production plants in India, with a third, largest plant scheduled to begin production in the first quarter of 2009.
India does present a remarkable opportunity for Minaean, with its booming economy growing at 9% per year. India also has one of the fastest-growing consumer markets in the world, and its middle class is expected to grow to 350 million people by 2015. The per-capita income in India has nearly doubled over the past five years, and that trend is expected to continue. Perhaps equally as important for Minaean is the massive infrastructure build-out that is occurring in India. Emerging market investors are well aware of the need to build infrastructure in India. India is lagging well behind China and other emerging countries in building their infrastructure. The Indian government is well aware of this fact and they are planning to spend over $500 billion on infrastructure over the next four years.
Minaean’s last earnings report seems to show that the company is benefitting from their exposure to India. The company moved from a loss to show a small profit. For the six months ended September 30, 2007 the company enjoyed record revenues of over $2.5 million, a gain of 589% as compared to the same period the prior year. In the same period, the company’s gross margins rose from 1% to 36%. The trend seems set to continue as Minaean has already won 5 contracts in India so far this year worth several million dollars.
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