Companies

Medellin-Based Exito Retail Chain Reports Huge Growth in 2015

Medellin Herald March 2, 2016

Medellin-based supermarket and retail chain Grupo Exito announced March 1 that its full-year 2015 consolidated revenues skyrocketed by 219% thanks to recent acquisitions in Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay, in addition to continuing growth in Colombia. Consolidated revenues hit COP33.4 trillion

Companies

ISA 2015 Net Income Hits All-Time Record

Medellin Herald March 2, 2016

Medellin-based ISA – principal operator of Colombia’s national electric power transmission grid and the “XM’ power trading network,  as well as operating toll-road concessions internationally – announced March 1 that its full-year 2015 net income rose 37.6% year-on-year (y-o-y) to COP701 trillion (US$219 million), an all-time record.  Full-year 2015 operating

Companies

Mineros SA Full-Year 2015 Profits Jump 60% Despite Fall in Gold Prices

Medellin Herald March 1, 2016

Medellin-based Mineros SA – a 100% Colombian-owned pioneer in novel alluvial mining of gold – on March 1 announced that its net profits for full-year 2015 rose 60.3% year-on-year (y-o-y), to COP72.8 billion (US$22 million), despite a small reduction in total gold produced. Full-year 2015 earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) also rose […]

Companies

Medellin’s Grupo Nutresa EBITDA Jumps 16.7% Year-on-Year

Medellin Herald March 1, 2016

Medellin-based multinational food producer Grupo Nutresa announced February 26 that its full-year 2015 earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) rose 16.7% year-on-year, to COP975.5 billion (US$293 million) on sales of COP7.9 trillion (US$2.9 billion), up 22.6%. Full-year 2015 sales in Colombia (not including the recently purchased El Corral

Companies

Medellin’s Cementos Argos EBITDA jumps 123%; Debuts Low-CO2 Cement Plant

Medellin Herald February 25, 2016

Medellin-based multinational cement producer Cementos Argos announced February 24 that its fourth-quarter (4Q) 2015 corporate-wide earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBIDTA) jumped 123% year-on-year (y-o-y), to COP409 billion (US$123.6 million). Gross income also rose 54% y-o-y, to COP2.2 trillion (US$665 million), while 4Q 2015 gross

Economy & Finance

Antioquia Economy to Grow 3.3% in 2016: Medellin Chamber of Commerce

Medellin Herald February 24, 2016

The Chamber of Commerce of Medellin for Antioquia (CCMA in Spanish initials) announced February 23 that it expects the Antioquia departmental economy to grow by about 3.3% this year, down from 3.6% in 2015. The latest economic outlook indicates that 2016 “won’t be easy for the country nor for the [Antioquia] region,” CCMA calculates. Among the global […]

Companies

Medellin’s Grupo Sura Wins Fitch Debt Upgrade; Full-Year 2015 Gross Income Jumps 17%

Medellin Herald February 24, 2016

Medellin-based insurance, pension-fund and banking-investor giant Grupo Sura announced February 24 that its full-year 2015 gross income rose 17% year-on-year, to COP8.47 trillion (US$2.6 billion), while net income came-in at COP533 billion (US$165 million). Despite positive net income in 2015, the company took hits from Colombia’s recently adopted “wealth tax” as well as

Health & Insurance.

San Vicente Fundacion, Mount Sinai Unveil Groundbreaking ‘Clinical Alliance’

Medellin Herald February 19, 2016

New York’s world-famous Mount Sinai Hospital announced February 18 that it has finalized a “clinical alliance” deal with Medellin-based San Vicente Fundacion (SVF), aiming to “transform access to health care for communities within Latin America.” The Mount Sinai Hospital is one of seven hospital campuses within The Mount Sinai Health System, one of the largest […]

Colombian economy

Colombian Industry Growing Despite Oil-Price Crash

Medellin Herald February 18, 2016

The latest annual “joint industrial opinion survey” (JIOS) organized by Medellin-based Andi (Colombia’s national industrial trade association) shows that Colombia’s industrial sector continued to grow in 2015 despite the global oil-price crash that has crippled its oil-dependent neighbors. The JIOS for full-year 2015 “reflects a slight increase in both production and

General News

Antioquia a Winner in First-Ever International Bond Float for ‘4G’ Highways

Medellin Herald February 15, 2016

A US$260 million bond float successfully organized by U.S.-based Goldman Sachs represents a big boost for Colombia’s massive “fourth generation” (4G) highway construction projects, which aim to overcome decades of logistical isolation from world markets. According to Colombia President Juan Manuel Santos and the Agencia Nacional de Infraestructura (ANI) highway development