Cementos Argos 1Q 2025 Net Income Plunges 60% Year-on-Year

Medellin-based multinational cement/concrete giant Cementos Argos announced May 15 that its first quarter (1Q) 2025 net income fell to COP$2.1 trillion (US$502 million), from COP$5.3 trillion (US$1.26 billion) in 1Q 2024.

Revenues dipped 6% year-on-year, to COP$1.23 trillion (US$294 million), while earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) dipped 11%, to COP$258 billion (US$61 million), from COP$291 billion (US$69 million) in 1Q 2024.

The big year-on-year drop in profits is explained by the one-time gain of COP$5.53 trillion (US$1.4 billion) in 1Q 2024 resulting from the combination of Cementos Argos operations in the U.S. with Summit Materials (see Medellin Herald May 15, 2024).

Cementos Argos subsequently sold its former 31% stake in Summit Materials for US$2.87 billion — and since then it has moved to shore-up its U.S. sales revenues via shipments from its Caribbean operations.

“Solid progress continues to be made in the strategic re-entry into the U.S. market through the consolidation of an aggregates export platform from the Caribbean, strengthening the company’s international presence,” acording to Cementos Argos.

As for the year-on-year dip in sales revenues, the company cited “a challenging global environment and adverse weather conditions” that affected demand for construction materials.

In Colombia, “despite a challenging start to the year, volumes and economic activity showed sequential improvement month over month,” according to Cementos Argos.

Here in Colombia, Argos cited “stable operating profitability, with an EBITDA of COP$171 billion [US$40.8 million] and an EBITDA margin of 26.1%,” according to the company.

“On a consolidated basis, 1.1 million tons of cement and 491,000 cubic meters of concrete were shipped in Colombia.

“The positive performance of the formal housing market — which has shown a 35% growth in sales compared to the same period last year — reinforces an optimistic outlook for the rest of the year in Colombia,” the company added.

As for its Central America, Caribbean and trading operations, “in Central America, results were impacted by the major scheduled maintenance shutdown at the Piedras Azules kiln in Honduras and the sluggishness of the formal housing sector in Panama due to the uncertainty generated by the delay in the passage of the Preferential Housing Law in the National Assembly,” according to the company.

“In the Caribbean, the Dominican Republic recorded record shipments in March, and Haiti achieved positive EBITDA thanks to shipments from Panama, despite the complex sociopolitical environment.

“In total, [Caribbean] regional adjusted EBITDA was US$29 million, with a 21% margin, as 953,000 tons of cement and 31,000 cubic meters of ready-mix concrete were shipped in this región,” the company explained.