‘E-Commerce’ Specialist Cadena Reports Digital Transformation, 40% EBITDA Growth

Medellin-based e-commerce, logistics, warehouse, document security, billing and customer-communications specialist Cadena announced May 17 that its full-year 2017 earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) rose 40% year-on-year, with EBITDA margin at 13.4%.

Sales also rose to COP$184 billion (US$63 million), while billings for innovative services rose 22% year-on-year, according to the company.

Cadena credited the EBITDA improvement to the launch of innovative digital products and services last year — and it expects further net growth this year of around 12%.

Besides aiming to transform its businesses via “100% technology,” Cadena also is reorganizing its business units into four divisions, plus opening two new logistics/distribution centers this year — in addition to the four existing centers — which will enable deliveries to all municipalities in Colombia.

“Since we launched our company more than 30 years ago, we had never imagined that we were going to convert ourselves into a completely digital operation,” added Cadena president Juan Manuel del Corral.

“We have evolved from having 100% of our sales via paper products, to the situation today where more than 60% of our sales come from digital services and logistics,” he added.

Thanks to this digital conversion, 22% of all billings in 2017 came from new businesses, which enabled Cadena to occupy strategic market niches as well as add 14 new products, according to the company.

Cadena now has 1,800 employees, four logistics plants, a network of 594 vendors, and a technology infrastructure that enables analysis of more than 2 billion data items each month for more than 740 private and public-sector clients, according to the company.

“With the development of e-commerce platforms, Cadena will become one of the biggest providers of this service and a major ally of the business sector of Colombia,” according to the company.

Among Cadena’s big corporate clients: Une, DirectTV, Telefonica, Tigo, Comcel, ETB, EPM, Emcali, Comfenalco, Comfama, Colsubisido, Carrefour, Exito, Proteccion, Porvenir, Colseguros, Colpatria, Santander, Sudameris, BBVA, Banco de Bogota, Grupo Bancolombia, Coomeva, Metro de Medellin, Nutresa, Sura, ICETEX, ICFES, Copa Airlines, Argos, Postobon, Imusa, Grupo Familia, Hewlett-Packard, Invesa, Procter & Gamble, Camara de Commercio de Medellin, Banco de Occidente, AV Villas, Davivienda, Citibank, Helm Bank and HSBC.