Solid first quarter for Cementos Argos

Cementos Argos posted first-quarter net income of US$39m, up 51.7 per cent compared to the first quarter 2013.

The company attributed the increase in net income in part to the inclusion of the results from a recently acquired operation in Honduras, as well as 24 days of results from new assets in Florida, company representatives explained during an investor's conference call.

“The significant increase of our profitability across all of the company’s three regional divisions, the still important potential for improvement in the US, and the effective integration of the operations in Honduras and in Florida all contributed to us closing a very solid first quarter, with positive perspectives for the rest of the year 2014 as well," said Jorge Velásquez, CEO of Argos.

Consolidated EBITDA was also up in the quarter, by 12 per cent to US$130m. Operating profit rose by 17 per cent to US$81m and revenues increased by 18 per cent to US$645m.

During the quarter the company sold 2.74Mt of cement and 2.38Mm3 of concrete, which represented a growth of four per cent and 14 per cent, respectively.

In the US, revenue rose 27 per cent, reflecting the Florida acquisition and the country’s economic recovery.

In Colombia, the positive housing construction trend and the progress made in respect to the development of civil infrastructure projects contributed to the company’s increased dispatched volumes which were up four per cent YoY.

Argos noted generally good trends in its Caribbean and Central American division, notably in Panama which saw an 11 per cent increase in cement dispatches excluding sales to the Panama Canal expansion project.