Companies

Medellin’s ‘Ruta N’ Hails Konecta’s High-Tech Expansion Here

Medellin Herald March 22, 2018

Medellin’s “Ruta N” technology-company hosting center announced March 22 that Madrid-based Konecta now has 100 engineers working here — and exporting services to nine countries including Spain, Portugal, United Kingdom, Morroco, Argentina, Chile, México, Perú and Brazil. Konecta offers

Companies

EPM 2017 Net Profit Jumps 19% Year-on-Year

Medellin Herald March 21, 2018

Medellin-based multinational utilities giant EPM announced March 20 that full-year 2017 net profits rose 19% year-on-year, to COP$2.2 trillion (US$772 million). As a result, the city of Medellin – EPM’s sole owner — netted COP$1.2 trillion (US$421 million) in profit-sharing, accounting for roughly 20% of the city’s total finances. EPM also invested COP$2.5 trillion

Companies

Protección 2017 Net Income Rises 34% Year-on-Year

Medellin Herald March 21, 2018

Medellin-based pension-fund administrator Protección announced March 16 that its full-year 2017 net income rose 34% year-on-year, to COP$343 billion (US$120 million). Protección is one of the largest of the private pension funds in Colombia, and also owns the “AFP Crecer” pension fund in El Salvador. Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA)

Companies

Mineros SA 2017 Profits Rise 32% Year-on-Year; Socially Responsible Projects Grow

Medellin Herald March 17, 2018

Medellin-based gold miner Mineros SA announced March 16 that its full-year 2017 net profits in Colombia rose 16% year-on-year, to COP$114.7 billion (US$40 million). Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) in Colombia hit COP$187.9 billion (US$65.8 million), or 48% of sales. Corporate-wide, consolidated net income rose 32% year-on-year, to

Companies

Enka Full-Year 2017 Net Income Drops, but Exports Climbing

Medellin Herald March 16, 2018

Medellin-based recycled plastics textile manufacturing specialist Enka Colombia announced March 15 that its full-year 2017 net profit fell to COP$1.7 billion (US$595,000), down from COP$10.6 billion (US$3.7 million) in 2016. Colombia’s weak economy in 2017 combined with a 25% drop in domestic demand for textiles hurt Enka sales and profits — but growing exports

Economy & Finance

Medellin, Antioquia Likely to See 3% GDP Growth in 2018: Chamber of Commerce

Medellin Herald March 16, 2018

The Chamber of Commerce of Medellin for Antioquia (CCMA) projects that Antioquia likely will see 3% growth in gross domestic product (“PIB” in Spanish initials) this year, up from 2.2% last year. As noted in a March 15 bulletin from Confecamaras (the Colombian national association of chambers of commerce), Antioquia out-performed Colombia nationally last year, […]

General News

Colombia’s Economic Slowdown Penalizes Medellin in ‘Como Vamos’ Survey

Medellin Herald March 16, 2018

The annual “Medellin Como Vamos” (“how are we doing?”) citizen survey released March 15 finds that while most Medellin residents remain relatively optimistic, Colombia’s economic slowdown in 2017 pushed the favorability index downward. The face-to-face survey in November 2017 of 1,500 residents across all zones and all socio-economic strata found that in general —

Companies

Pactia’s Colombia, U.S. Real-Estate Development Fund Sees 2017 Profits Jump 41.8%

Medellin Herald March 14, 2018

Private real estate development fund Pactia – administered by Medellin-based Fiduciaria Bancolombia – on March 14 announced that full-year 2017 net income jumped 41.8% year-on-year, hitting COP$132 billion (US$46 million). Gross income also rose 25% year-on-year, to COP$224 billion (US$78.7 million), while earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization

General News

ANI Touts Billion-Dollar Investments in Antioquia Highways, Ports, Airport Upgrades

Medellin Herald March 14, 2018

Colombia’s Agencia Nacional de Infraestructura (ANI) infrastructure-project agency president Dimitri Zaninovich on March 13 publicly hailed what he termed as multi-billion-dollar investments in “fourth generation” (4G) highways connecting Medellin and Antioquia to key ocean freight ports. In a speech following inspection of Colombia’s first-ever unified air-freight

Editorial

Colombia Voters Pick Moderate for Presidential Candidate, Soundly Reject Socialism

Medellin Herald March 12, 2018

In an unprecedentedly massive primary turnout, Colombia’s voters on March 11 chose moderate presidential candidate Ivan Duque of the center-right Centro Democratico party to face-off against socialist-populist Gustavo Petro in this spring’s presidential elections. As the polls closed, the soft-speaking, diplomatic Duque publicly announced that he has chosen moderate