Argos sees net income grow to US$22m in 1H19

Argos has announced that the company's net income grew by 33.5 per cent to US$22m in 1H19. Argos revenues also expanded by 10.6 per cent to US$1.419m, while EBITDA registered an increase of four per cent to total US$262.4m.

Cement shipments were just under 8Mt, 1.2 per cent higher than in 1H18 and concrete dispatched were 5Mm³, down 2.5 per cent in 1H18 due to heavy rainfall in some parts of the USA. The company also sold its stake in OMYA Andina and Cartón de Colombia in 2Q19 to raise US$27m.

"In the first half of 2019 we continued to strengthen our operation and our presence in the United States with the execution of the BEST 2.0 efficiency plant, which added to the best price dynamics that we began to see in Colombia, allowed us to compensate the pressure we experienced in energy costs. The significant progress of our divestment in non-strategic assets allows us to continue focussing on improving the competitiveness of the company and innovating in products, services and solutions to support the growth of our customers," said Juan Esteban Calle, Argos CEO.

Regional results
In the USA Argos earned revenues of US$781m, 3.5 per cent up on 1H18 and EBITDA amounted to US$108m. Cement dispatched rose by 6.9 per cent to more than 3Mt and concrete dispatches slipped by 3.8 per cent.

Colombian revenues reached US$352m, up 3.3 per cent on 1H18, although EBITDA fell by four per cent to US$72m because of higher energy costs. Cement dispatches totalled 2.4Mt, down 2.5 per cent on 1H18. Concrete dispatches remained stable at 1.4Mm³.

The Caribbean and Central American division saw revenues of US$286m, down 4.5 per cent on 1H18 and EBITDA reached US$79m, down 19.8 per cent. Cement dispatches amounted to 2.5Mt and concrete shipments of 194,000m³ were recorded, down 1.5 and three per cent, respectively when compared to 1H18.

"Our priority is to gain financial flexibility and reduce, by June 2020, the net debt to EBITDA ratio to a level of 3.2 times," added Mr Calle.