Companies

EPM Boosts Hidroituango Cost Estimate to COP$18.3 Trillion; Mid-2022 Startup Seen

Medellin Herald July 15, 2021

EPM general manager Jorge Andrés Carrillo Cardoso announced July 14 that the latest capital cost estimate for the 2.4-gigawatt “Hidroituango” hydroelectric dam in Antioquia now stands at COP$18.3 trillion (US$4.8 billion), up COP$2.1 trillion (US$550 million) from the prior estimate. On the

Companies

Fabricato 3Q 2021 Profits Soar Year-on-Year

Medellin Herald July 11, 2021

Medellin-based textile giant Fabricato reported November 6 that its third quarter (3Q) 2021 net profit came in at COP$11.1 billion (US$2.86 million), a big reversal from the COP$3.3 billion (US$852,000) net loss in 3Q 2020. As for the first nine months of 2021, net income reached COP$12.1 billion (US$3.1 million), up from a COP$22 billion […]

Companies

Antioquia Proposes to Swap its Hidroituango Shareholding for Minority Stake in EPM

Medellin Herald July 8, 2021

Antioquia Acting Governor Luis Fernando Suárez announced today (July 8) that the departmental government wants to swap its majority shareholding in the US$5 billion “Hidroituango” hydroelectric project for a minority share in Medellin’s electric-power giant EPM. The proposed deal “seeks to avoid a judicial conflict that could also generate a prolonged and damaging

Companies

Update: Grupo Sura Debt Downgrade Added to That of EPM, ISA, UNE-EPM, Isagen, City of Medellin

Medellin Herald July 6, 2021

Wall Street bond rater Fitch Ratings announced July 20 that it has added Medellin-based multinational financial/insurance giant Grupo Sura and banking giant Bancolombia to a growing list of Colombian companies and municipalities suffering debt-ratings downgrades because of Colombia-wide economic problems resulting from the Covid-19 crisis. “This decision on the part

Colombian economy

Colombia’s Short-Term Debt Ratings Suffer Downgrade, but Outlook Improves to ‘Stable’

Medellin Herald July 2, 2021

Wall Street bond rater Fitch Ratings announced last night (July 1) that it has downgraded Colombia’s “Long-Term Foreign-Currency” (LTFC) and local currency “Issuer Default Ratings (IDR)” to ‘BB+’ from ‘’BBB-,’’ but Colombia’s debt outlook is now revised to “stable,” up from the prior rating of “negative.” “The [LTFC] downgrade reflects the deterioration of the

Companies

AkzoNobel Acquires Medellin’s Grupo Orbis, Pintuco Paints

Medellin Herald June 30, 2021

Netherlands-based multinational paints-and-chemicals giant AkzoNobel announced June 29 that it just inked a deal to acquire Medellin-based multinational paints, piping and hardware giant Grupo Orbis. Deal completion “is subject to regulatory approvals and is expected by end of this year or in early 2022” — but financial details have yet to be disclosed, according to

Companies

Sura to Manufacture Covid-19 Vaccines by 2023

Medellin Herald June 30, 2021

Medellin-based multinational health-care and insurance giant Grupo Sura announced June 29 that it’s investing US$54 million in biotech researcher VaxThera in a project aiming to produce Covid-19 vaccines in Colombia by 2023. “VaxThera advances the development of vaccines such as Coronavirus, dengue, Chikungunya, yellow fever, influenza and Zika,” according to Sura. A new,

Colombian economy

Colombia’s Top Economic Think-Tank Sees 7% GDP Growth This Year

Medellin Herald June 18, 2021

Fedesarrollo – Colombia’s leading economic think-tank – announced June 17 that it has revised upward its previous GDP (“PIB” in Spanish initials) growth forecast to 7.2% for full-year 2021, up from a prior estimate of 4.8% growth. “The increase in the growth forecast is due to higher growth in the first quarter of this year […]

Companies

Grupo Sura Posts COP$211a Billion Profit in 1Q 2021, Big Reversal from Net Loss in 1Q 2020

Medellin Herald June 15, 2021

Medellin-based multinational insurance, health-care and financial services giant Grupo Sura announced May 14 a COP$211 billion (US$57 million) net profit for first quarter (1Q) 2021, compared to a COP$76 billion (US$20.6 million) net loss in 1Q 2020. The big change “was mainly the result of the devaluation of the markets in the region” last year, […]

Companies

EPM Board Votes to Sell its Stake in ‘UNE’ Telecom/Internet Venture

Medellin Herald May 26, 2021

Medellin-based utilities giant EPM announced last night (May 25) that its board of directors just voted to start the process of selling its minority stake in the “UNE-EPM” telecom-internet-cable TV company and the related “Inversiones Telco” company. UNE-EPM is a partnership between EPM and Spain-based multinational telecom provider Millicom. According to EPM, proceeds