Cementos Argos - August 2014

In 1H14 Cementos Argos saw an 87 per cent increase in net profit, compared to the same period last year, mainly driven by acquisitions and positive market trends. This was particularly marked in the US where earnings in 2Q14 were almost double the EBITDA seen in the full year 2013. The strong performance was mainly due to higher sales volumes in the first quarter, which saw a 59 and 27 per cent increase in cement and concrete dispatches, respectively.

The company’s consolidated second-quarter EBITDA rose by 11 per cent to US$142m. In 1H14 EBITDA reached US$272m, representing growth of 12 per cent YoY, despite non-recurring expenses of almost US$20m mainly due to recent acquisitions. Following the integration of the Honduras, Florida and French Guiana cement and concrete assets, consolidated revenues in 1H14 rose by around 18 per cent with cement and concrete sales volumes up by 9.3 per cent and 17.9 per cent, respectively.

Cementos Argos is now reportedly looking closely at the assets likely to come up for sale by Lafarge and Holcim in Latin America, particularly in Mexico and Brazil.