Chilean investment group Invesa Briones will invest US$190m over three years in its cement producer Cementos Bío Bío, the holding company’s president Hernán Briones told reporters.
 
The group plans to invest US$290m over the next three years to consolidate and expand its operations in Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru.
 
This includes a US$100m investment in its firm Indura, which will carry out projects in Argentina, Ecuador and Peru.
 
Cementos Bío Bío posted a COP4.62bn-peso (US$9.83m) net profit for the first quarter of this year, down 31.5% from the 6.74bn pesos posted for the same time last year.
 
Sales for the firm totaled 82.5bn pesos, down 3% compared to 85.5bn pesos posted for the first quarter of 2007. Operating profits totaled 7.69bn pesos, a 22.8% fall from 9.96bn pesos for Q1 last year.
 
Among the reasons for these results, Briones mentioned the subprime crisis in the US and the increasing cost of energy.