Colombia: Argos, the cement company of Grupo Argos, reported a 10.6% increase in revenue during the first half of 2019, driven mainly by higher cement volumes in the US and the start of price recovery in Colombia. Its consolidated earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) increased by 4%.

The company earned US$1.42m in revenue, with a net profit of US$22m, 33.5% higher than in the first half of 2018. Its EBITDA in the US was US$262.4m. Cement shipments were close to 8Mt, 1.2% higher than in the first half of 2018, and concrete dispatches were 5Mm3, a decrease of 2.5% due to the impact of heavy rains in some regions of the US.

“In the first half of 2019 we continued to strengthen our operation and our presence in the United States with the execution of the BEST 2.0 efficiency plan, which, added to the best price dynamics that we began to see in Colombia, allowed us to compensate the pressure we experienced in energy costs,” said Juan Esteban Calle, CEO of Argos. “The significant progress of our divestment plan in non-strategic assets allows us to continue focusing on improving the competitiveness of the company and innovating in products, services and solutions to support the growth of our customers.”

In the US Argos earned revenues of US$781m, 3.5% higher than in the first half of 2018. Its US EBITDA was stable year-on-year at US$108m. Cement dispatches in the US increased by 6.9% to exceed 3Mt, but concrete dispatches decreased by 3.8%, mainly due to heavy rains in the south-central region. The profit in the US was US$11m.

In Colombia revenues during the first half of 2019 were US$352m, 3.3% higher than in the first half of 2018. EBITDA was US$72m, 4% lower year-on-year. Cement dispatches totaled 2.4Mt, a 2.5% reduction. On the other hand, concrete sales remained stable at 1.4Mm3. The company reported that its Argos ONE digital platform continued to give ‘great’ results. From January 2019 to July 2019, 63% of cement and 44% of concrete dispatches were made through this digital platform.

In the Caribbean and Central America, the company highlighted that operations in the Dominican Republic and Haiti continued to be positive, compensating for the challenging political environment that was evident during the period in Honduras and Panama.

In this region, revenues stood at US$286m, a 4.5% reduction year-on-year. EBITDA in this region came to US$79m dollars, 19.8% lower year-on-year. Cement dispatches were 2.5Mt and concrete dispatches were 194,000m3, 1.5% and 3% lower respectively year-on-year.