Displaying items by tag: Cementos Argos

Colombia: Cementos Argos has introduced a share price recovery programme at the same time it has released its financial results for 2022. It plans to spend around US$50m on a share buy-back program. Its sales revenue rose by 24% year-on-year to US$2.37bn from US$1.92bn. Its earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) grew by 7% to US$422m from US$396m. However, its net income dropped by 14% to US$81.7m from US$95.5m due to mounting financial expenses. Its cement sales volumes fell by 3.7% to 16.2Mt in 2022 from 16.8Mt in 2021.

The group blamed the decline in cement sales volumes on problems in the Haitian market as well as lower trading volumes to the Caribbean and Central America region. Sales volumes of cement and revenue grew in the US but earnings fell. In Colombia, local cement sales volumes fell but were boosted overall by exports.

Colombia: The Science-Based Targets Initiative (SBTi) has validated Grupo Argos Subsidiary Cementos Argos’ CO₂ emissions reduction goals. Cementos Argos aims to reduce its Scope 1 and Scope 2 CO₂ emissions in line with a well-below 2°C climate change scenario by 2030. Its strategy includes increasing co-processing of alternative fuel (AF), reducing its cement’s clinker factor, optimising its heat and electricity consumption, investing in cleaner technologies, increasing the share of renewable power it uses and diversifying its product range to include more low-carbon products.

Colombia: Grupo Argos announced its purchase of US$2.49m-worth of shares in Cementos Argos. The purchase accounts for 0.3% of the subsidiary's share capital. At the start of 2022, Grupo Argos held a 59% majority stake in the cement producer. The next biggest single shareholders were investment services company AFP y Cesantías Protección, with 8%, and pension fund management company SAFP Porvenir, with 6.3%.

Colombia: Cementos Argos has reported record sales and earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) in the first nine months of 2022. Sales for the period reached US$1.73bn, with EBITDA reaching US$306m. In terms of shipments, Cementos Argos delivered 12.3Mt of cement, 2% less than in the first nine months of 2021. It delivered 5.8Mm³/yr of concrete, a year-on-year rise of 9%.

Juan Esteban Calle, president of the company, said "We are excited to deliver positive results to our shareholders that show that the strategies we are implementing, in terms of deleveraging, efficiency, network integration logistics and price recovery, are bearing fruit. Amid strong inflationary pressures in all markets, we were able to expand profitability and margins versus last year."

During the third quarter of 2022 the company saw revenues of US$414m in the US market, an increase of 23% compared to the third quarter of 2021. Its EBITDA in the US for the quarter increased by 26% to US$77m. It said that 'solid' demand helped it to increase cement sales volumes by 6% to 1.6Mt, while concrete sales rose by 4% to 1.1Mm³.

In its native Colombia, revenues reached US$143m, a year-on-year increase of 11%, with EBITDA at US$32.1m. During the three-month period, cement shipments remained stable, while the concrete business has continued its sustained recovery, supported by infrastructure and formal housing projects. The company highlighted that exports from Cartagena grew by 37% to reach 319,000t, the highest quarterly figure in the company's history.

In the Caribbean and Central America revenues rose by 8% year-on-year in the third quarter of 2022 to reach US$136m, with EBITDA stable year-on-year at US£31m. However, cement shipments decreased by 13% to 1.0Mt. Cementos Argos said that this was partly due to serious social disruption in Haiti, as well as a change of government in Honduras and scheduled maintenance in the Dominican Republic. However, the company saw a 59% increase in concrete shipments to 77,000m³.

US: Argos USA has obtained a US$750m loan for the financing of its working capital and capital expenditure and refinancing of its debt. The loan is linked to environmental, social and governance (ESG) metrics. Bank of Nova Scotia, BNP Paribas, JP Morgan Chase Bank, SMBC and Bank of New York Mellon lent the funds, assisted by Cuatrecasas.

Parent company Cementos Argos said "With this credit agreement, around 44% of Cementos Argos' consolidated debt will be linked to ESG indicators, bringing it closer to the 50% target for 2022 previously announced to the market, and thus reaffirming the company's commitment to meeting ambitious goals in terms of sustainable growth."

Honduras: Argos Honduras is set to start a new hydrogen injection process at its integrated Piedras Azules cement plant. During the process, water molecules are split using electricity into hydrogen and oxygen and then injected into the kiln through the main burner. The main objective of this technology is to reduce the use of fossil fuels, CO₂ emissions levels and energy consumption at the plant.

Luis Eduardo Tovar, the manager of Argos Honduras, said “We are proud to be committed to innovation and new technologies that allow us to keep our operation at the forefront of the industry. This project has allowed us to reduce our C0₂ emissions and optimise our processes to become increasingly efficient."

A pilot was previously conducted in conjunction with Portugal-based UTIS. It showed that by using the technology the plant could increase its clinker production and reduce petcoke consumption.

US: Argos USA has invested US$40m in 200 new ready-mix concrete mixer trucks, as the first phase of a five-year fleet expansion and replacement plan. The company says that the vehicles have a useful life of 8 – 10 years, or 53,500m³. It expects to make its next truck purchases in early 2023.

Argos USA ready-mix president Richard Edwards said "With the acquisition of these new assets, we continue our dedication to delivering extraordinary solutions to customers, helping facilitate the progress and development of the cities and communities where we have a presence. Our new trucks have a capacity of around 7.5m³ of concrete, are approximately 15% more fuel efficient than our previous trucks, and result in lower atmospheric emissions. They are also vehicles with the latest safety equipment, to continue ensuring the safety of our employees and everyone we share the road with daily."

Colombia: Cementos Argos has restarted kiln 2 at its Toluviejo Plant in Sucre after more than six months of maintenance and improvement work and after almost five years out of use. The US$7.4m project has increased the plant’s capacity by 0.2Mt/yr to 0.8Mt/yr.

The main works carried out included the rehabilitation of the preheater tower stands, the installation of a new burner that provides greater performance and re-conditioning of the kiln.

“We are very excited about the start-up of this kiln, as it is an investment that materialises our trust and the commitment that we have in Argos with the development of Colombia,” said Carlos Horacio Yusty, vice president of the Colombia Region of Argos. “In addition, it prepares us to continue serving the national and international demand for cement in a more efficient manner.”

Colombia: Cementos Argos recorded sales of US$1.26bn in the first half of 2022, up by 13% year-on-year from US$1.11bn in the first half of 2021. Its earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) fell by 16% to US$221m from US$264m. The group's US sales accounted for 62% of its revenues during the six-month period. They rose by 5.4% year-on-year to US$776m from US$736m in the first half of 2021. Cementos Argos' US business' EBITDA fell by 25% to US$133m from US$177m. Colombia contributed sales of US$304m, 24% of group revenues, up by 15% year-on-year from US$263m in the first half of 2021.

Cementos Argos' first-half 2022 cement sales totaled 8.17Mt, down by 5.2% from 8.62Mt in the first half of 2021. Its US cement volumes fell by 1.2% to 3.06Mt, its Colombian cement volumes by 6.2% to 2.98Mt and its Caribbean and Central America cement volumes by 22% to 2.13Mt.

Chief executive officer Juan Estaban Calle said "We are convinced of the great opportunity that lies ahead to lead the industry in sustainability and generate greater value for our shareholders and all stakeholders. The calcined clay pilot that we are starting in the USA is another important milestone in our roadmap to produce carbon-neutral concrete by 2050. The results of the second quarter were very positive both in terms of revenue growth and volumes, driven, mainly, by the solidity of demand in the US and the good dynamics of the Colombian economy amidst a challenging situation of high inflation and increase in interest rates."

Colombia: Cementos Argos has shared plans for an 80% increase to its planned aggregates production capacity in Colombia to 4.5Mt/yr by 2024. In 2022, the company predicts that its aggregates business will contribute full-year earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) of US$2.8bn.

Colombia's annual aggregates consumption is 130 - 140Mt/yr.