Companies

Nutresa 1Q 2021 Profits Jump 20.6% Year-on-Year

Medellin Herald May 1, 2021

Medellin-based multinational foods manufacturing and retailing giant Grupo Nutresa reported April 30 that its first quarter (1Q) 2021 net profit rose 20.6% year-on-year, to COP$233 billion (US$62 million). Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) also rose by

Companies

Cemex LatAm Posts 1Q 2021 US$3.8 Million Net Profit, up from Net Loss in 1Q 2020

Medellin Herald April 29, 2021

Colombia-based Cemex LatAm Holdings reported a US$3.8 million net profit for first quarter (1Q) 2021, up sharply from a US$30.4 million net loss in 1Q 2020. “Consolidated net sales during the first quarter of 2021 increased 7% on a like-for-like basis adjusted for currency fluctuations, compared to the first quarter of 2020,” according to the […]

Other Norms

Medellin, Antioquia Covid Restrictions Continue to May 3, Possibly May 10

Medellin Herald April 25, 2021

Antioquia Governor Luis Fernando Suárez announced last night (April 24) that metro Medellin, the “oriente” region and the rest of Antioquia will continue restrictions on movements to Monday, May 3 because of overwhelming cases of Covid-19. Curfews and bans on liquor sales will continue from 8 pm to 5 am daily to April 29. Simultaneously, […]

Companies

Sweden-Based Essity Buys 94% of Medellin’s Grupo Familia in Personal-Hygiene-Market Deal

Medellin Herald April 23, 2021

Sweden-based multinational personal-hygiene-products giant Essity announced last night (April 22) that it just paid US$1.54 billion to boost its shareholding in Medellin-based counterpart Grupo Familia to “at least 94%,” up from 50% previously. According to company CEO Magnus Groth, “Essity has been a [partial] owner in Familia since 1985.With this acquisition we are

General News

Antioquia’s ‘IDEA” Development Bank Inks Alliance with Animal Bank

Medellin Herald April 23, 2021

The Antioquia departmental government’s Institute for the Development of Antioquia (IDEA) announced April 22 that it just signed an alliance deal with Medellin-based “green” project consultant Animal Bank. Animal Bank is an initiative created by Medellin’s Portafolio Verde organization (see Medellin Herald 08/26/2019), which helps various commercial or industrial project

Health & Insurance.

Colombia Covid-19 Vaccinations Approach 5 Million; Antioquia Coverage Tops 10%

Medellin Herald April 22, 2021

Colombia President Ivan Duque announced April 21 that while 4 million Colombians have already received at least one shot of Covid-19 vaccine, that number will have topped 5 million by May 4, thanks to accelerating vaccination rates. Meanwhile, Antioquia Acting Governor Luis Fernando Suarez revealed April 21 that 600,000 people in Antioquia (including metro Medellin) […]

Companies

Hidroituango Project Threatened by New Comptroller Embargoes

Medellin Herald April 21, 2021

EPM’s problem-plagued, US$5 billion “Hidroituango” hydroelectric project is facing yet another threat from a new assets-embargo order brought by Colombia’s Comptroller-General against one or possibly all of the Hidroituango construction contractors. In an April 21 press conference, EPM general manager Jorge Andrés Carrillo Cardoso cautioned that the full, immediate impact

Companies

EPM 1Q 2021 Net Income Rises 31% Year-on-Year

Medellin Herald April 21, 2021

Medellin-based multinational electric power and utilties giant EPM announced April 27 that its first quarter (1Q) 2021 net income jumped 31% year-on-year, to COP$856 billion (US$230 million). Revenues rose 18% year-on-year, to COP$5.6 trillion (US$1.5 billion), while earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) rose 12%, to COP$1.7 trillion

Editorial

Top Medellin Industrialists Contradict Medellin Mayor Quintero’s Unproven Claims on EPM

Medellin Herald April 19, 2021

Grupo Argos President Jorge Mario Velásquez and Grupo Nutresa President Carlos Ignacio Gallego Palacio on April 19 both issued extraordinary public statements contradicting Medellin Mayor Daniel Quintero’s latest unproven assertions claiming that Medellin’s leading industrialists have been trying to manipulate the naming of the EPM general manager and supposedly rob EPM.

Infrastructure

Medellin-Bogota Highway Reopens 24 Hours/Day at San Luis Landslide Site

Medellin Herald April 18, 2021

Colombia’s national highway agency Invias announced April 17 that it has restored 24 hours/day operations on the Medellin-Bogota highway at the site of an April 9 landslide near San Luis, Antioquia. The new scheme employs alternating one-way traffic around the landslide site between kilometer 31 and kilometer 61 on the Medellín-Bogotá highway. “Thanks to the […]