Cementos Argos' 4Q20 regional results

Following yesterday’s financial results, Colombia’s Cementos Argos has also reported its regional breakdown for the final quarter and full year of 2020.

USA region
The company’s USA region saw a three per cent decline in cement volumes to 1.489Mt in the final quarter of 2020, compared with 1.535Mt in the 4Q19. The construction sector maintained a positive trend, supported by the strong performance of the residential segment and by a slight improvement in the infrastructure sector, according to the company.

Stable cement prices and improved ready-mix prices partially offset the lower volumes, resulting in a nine per cent fall in revenue to US$356m in the final quarter of 2020.

In the full-year, the region saw a 9.4 per cent decline in revenue to COP1.45trn from COP1.6trn in 2019. EBITDA also fell 11.4 per cent YoY to COP237bn. Cement volumes dipped 6.4 per cent to 5.886Mt from 6.287Mt in the previous year.

Colombia
Cement dispatches improved sequentially during the 4Q20 but decreased 1.6 per cent to 1.251Mt on an annual basis. The strength of the retail segment and residential construction are the main drivers.

Revenues contracted three per cent to COP586bn, while EBITDA was down 1.7 per cent YoY to COP130bn as a result of lower volumes, higher maintenance costs and distribution costs.

In the full-year, Colombian revenues declined 15.3 per cent to COP1.99trn and EBITDA dropped 23.2 per cent YoY to COP401bn from COP522bn in 2019. Cement volumes were down 18.3 per cent to 4.084Mt from 4.999Mt.

Caribbean and Central America (CCA)
The CCA region was driven by the self-construction trend that continues to prevail in emerging markets and the fact that its operations in Panama remained open during the quarter. Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic, alongside the exports division, posted cement volume growth during the quarter. These factors offset the impact of hurricanes and increased rainfall. As a result, cement volumes during the 4Q20 posted a YoY growth of 13.5 per cent to 1.221Mt.

Revenue remained largely in line with the 4Q19 at COP118bn, while EBITDA decreased 1.7 per cent to COP28bn.

In the full-year 2020 period, revenue was down 16.6 per cent YoY to COP447bn from COP535bn in 2019. EBITDA contracted 20.7 per cent to COP117bn. Cement volumes also dipped 3.3 per cent to 4.703Mt.