Votorantim SA will complete key investment projects this year to return return to profit amid a challenging outlook, said Votorantim's CEO, João Miranda.

Capital spending needs should ease as several investments in Turkey, Bolivia and the United States as well as a Brazilian wind farm project are slated to turn operational next year.

Votorantim's loss came in the wake of a nine per cent drop in net revenue to BRL26.7bn (US$8.4bn) amid lacklustre cement and aluminium results and lower income from energy trading.

Still, Votorantim managed to cut net debt by 24 per cent to BRL14.7bn. Investment also fell six per cent last year. Net debt rose to the equivalent of 3.43 times adjusted EBITDA last year, from 2.79 times EBITDA in 2015.

"We are committed to keeping debt metrics stable and analysing the overall situation in a way that we can accomplish the group's strategy the best way possible," Mr Miranda said.