Colombia-based Cemex LatAm Holdings announced February 11 that it suffered a full-year 2020 net loss of US$121 million, a huge drop from a US$4 million net profit in full-year 2019.

“The net loss for the entire year was mainly due to non-monetary impairment of goodwill and inactive assets by US$121 million, registered in the third quarter 2020,” according to the company.

Sales also fell 20% year-on-year as the Covid-19 crisis triggered economic shutdowns, which depressed demand for cement and concrete in various markets.

Despite the losses, earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) margin improved by 2 percentage points, “supported by our pricing strategy and cost-savings program, even though our volumes were heavily impacted by the pandemic,” according to Cemex LatAm.

In addition, “we reduced net debt by 11% during 2020 and our leverage ratio remained relatively stable at 3.7 times from December 2019 to December 2020, despite of the drop in operating cash flow,” according to the company.

As for fourth-quarter (4Q) 2020, corporate-wide net income improved to US$8 million, compared to a loss of US$3 million in 4Q 2019.

Colombia Results

“Operating income in Colombia reached US$30 million, 1% higher in comparable terms, compared to the fourth quarter of 2019. Net sales increased 1% in comparable terms, compared to the same period of the previous year, reaching US$120 million,” according to Cemex LatAm.

For all of Colombia, industry-wide cement volumes rose 2% in 4Q 2020, but fell 10% in 2020 versus full-year 2019. For Cemex LatAm in Colombia, “our cement volumes fell 17% in 2020, reflecting an impact of our strategy price increase and a new competitor,” according to the company.

Cement prices for Cemex LatAm in Colombia rose 8% in 2020, as measured in local currency. Full-year EBITDA in Colombia rose 6%, despite a 10% drop in sales.

Rest-of-Latin-America Results

In Panama, Cemex LatAm's 4Q 2020 sales fell 40% year-on-year, to US$23 million.

In Costa Rica, 4Q 2020 EBITDA rose 34% year-on-year, to US$8 million. Net sales rose 7%, to US$22 million.

In the rest of its Central America and Caribbean markets, 4Q 2020 EBITDA increased 20% in comparable terms, to US$16 million, while net sales rose 12%, to US$58 million, according to the company.