Colombia: Cementos Argos’ sales revenue in Colombia have fallen by 8.3% to US$629m for the first nine months of 2016 from US$686m in the same period in 2015. Its earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) fell by 12.9% to US$171m and its cement sales volumes fell by 17.9% to 3.78Mt. It blamed this on a fall in demand for bulk cement in the country caused by a delay in infrastructure projects.
“The US, Honduras and Panama continue to drive the company’s results and offer great opportunities for growth, offsetting the slowdown in demand we faced in the Colombian market as a result of the delay in the start of the construction of the 4G projects during the second half of the year,” said Juan Esteban Calle, chief executive officer of Cementos Argos.
Overall the cement producer reported that its sales revenue rose by 13.1% to US$2.05bn, that its EBITDA rose by 13.8% to US$396m but that its cement sales volumes fell by 1.4% to 10.5Mt.