Unacem reports 7% revenue increase in 2023

Peru-based cement producer Unacem has reported revenue of PEN6.38bn (US$1.73bn) in 2023, marking a 6.6 per cent increase YoY, despite the country’s declining construction sector. Net profit over the same period contracted by 22.1 per cent to PEN514m, while the EBITDA margin fell from 26.3 per cent in 2022 to 23.4 per cent the following year, according to BNAmericas. 

In the fourth quarter of 2023, the company's global revenue came in at PEN1.66bn, up from PEN1.6bn in the same period a year earlier, with Peru accounting for 66 per cent of revenue over the three-month period, followed by the USA (19 per cent), Ecuador (nine per cent) and Chile (six per cent). 

In the Peruvian market alone, revenue in the 4Q23 stood at PEN1.08bn. Cement sales declined 14.8 per cent YoY to 1.46Mt, while cement revenue fell 2.9 per cent to PEN709m. The US market saw revenue advance from PEN245m in the 4Q22 to PEN320m in the comparable period a year later, with cement production advancing from 151,000t to 235,000t. The acquisition of cement producer Drake Cement with its Paulden and Tehachapi plants in August 2023 is believed to have accounted for around 80,000t of this total. 

Revenue from Unacem’s operations in Ecuador fell 20.6 per cent YoY in the 4Q23 to PEN146m as cement production dropped from 351,000t to 290,000t. Chile reported revenue of PEN106m, down 13.8 per cent YoY, while Colombia saw sales of PEN6.62m, representing a 115 per cent improvement YoY.