Cementos Pacasmayo, Peru’s third-largest cement producer, posted a 34 per cent YoY drop in profits in 2Q17 as sales fell and El Niño damage increased costs.

Cementos Pacasmayo reported a profit of PEN21.4m (US$6.6m) between April and June 2017, compared with a profit of PEN32.5m in 2Q16.

This drop in profit was mainly due to "lower sales, higher expenses related to cessions, increases in distribution costs for the destruction of roads, as well as the cost of some damage to our plants by El Niño Costero", the company said in a statement.

Net sales slipped 4.3 per cent in 2Q17 to PEN190.4m, while EBITDA decreased 11.9 per cent YoY to PEN63.9m.

Peru’s economy is facing a deceleration due to a fall in investment following the shutdown of large infrastructure projects as a result of corruption scandals involving Brazilian construction companies such as Odebrecht.

However, the company said that it expects to improve its results with its participation in the development of projects in the north of the country, such as the modernisation of the Talara Refinery, the Sierra Longitudinal Highway and the Alto Piura irrigation and hydroelectric project.