Chilean cement producer Cementos Bío-Bío (CBB) saw a 15.3 per cent increase in sales to CLP155,089m in the first half of 2022 when compared with the CLP134,538m reported for the 1H21.

Gross profits declined 12.2 per cent YoY to CLP43,268m in the 1H from CLP49,286m on the back of higher distribution and administration costs. Finance costs increased to CLP4508m in the 1H22 from CLP1380Mt in the year-ago period.

Profit before tax fell by 98.4 per cent from CLP10,282m in the 1H21 to CLP156m in the first six months of 2022.

Total net profit saw a 74.2 per cent drop to CLP1855m in the January-June 2022 from CLP7196m in the equivalent period of the previous year.