Cemento Polpaico posts 9M23 loss

Chile-based Cemento Polpaico reported losses of CLP9016.24m (US$10.4m) in the first nine months of 2023, compared with a profit of CLP3576.95m in the 9M22.

The company's revenue improved 4.2 per cent YoY to CLP261,921.45m in the 9M23. EBITDA reached CLP9743.17m in the 9M23 when compared with CLP16,485.72m in the 9M22.

"During the third quarter of 2023, a lower dynamism in the construction sector, marked by a
significant decrease in the demand for materials, associated to a decrease in the volume of projects infrastructure, housing, high-rise buildings, among others," said the company.

"Additionally, long-term interest rates have remained high, which has made access to the
credit for the purchase of a home and the conditions of the access to credit for construction and real estate companies They remain restrictive. This scenario had an impact on all
our lines of business, which mainly reflected in a lower sales volume and very high operating margins below expectations," it continued.