ISA 2018 results March 219

ISA Full-Year 2018 Profits Rise 6% Year-on-Year

Medellin-based multinational electric power transmission operator and highways concessionaire ISA announced March 7, 2019 that its full-year 2018 net income rose 6% year-on-year, to COP$1.5 trillion (US$483 million).

Revenues also rose 4% year-on-year, to COP$7.2 trillion (US$2.3 billion), while earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) grew 8.4% year-on-year, to COP$4.8 trillion (US$1.54 billion).

EBITDA margin came-in at a fat 66.5%, or 73% if excluding construction activities during 2018. Return on equity likewise came-in at a favorable 12.8%.

ISA credits the profit gains to “entry into operation of new projects in Peru, Colombia and Chile; the update for inflation of the [power] tariff cycle, the recovery of taxes and [tax deductions from] fiscal losses in Brazil, and lower taxes for the application of the Financing Law in Colombia,” according to the company.

As for fourth quarter (4Q) 2018 profits, ISA netted COP$581 billion (US$187 million), up 116% over 4Q 2017, according to the company.

In ISA’s electric power transportation unit, 4Q 2018 revenues rose 17.8%, to COP$187 billion (US$60 million).

“The variation is explained in Colombia, by the remuneration of the new projects such as the San Antonio Substation (230 kiloVolts) and associated transmission lines; the Ituango-Medellin Substation (Katíos) and the Caribbean Coast reinforcement (500 kiloVots); the Caracolí Substation and associated lines, the charge for connection to the network of the El Bosque transformer project, the extensions of the Nueva Barranquilla substation and the Ternera substation,” according to ISA.

Entry-into-operation of several new transmission lines in Chile along with higher power tariffs in Brazil also boosted revenues, according to the company.

Also in Brasil, ISA’s “Companhia de Transmissão de Energia Elétrica Paulista” (CTEEP) subsidiary completed its first emission of “green bonds,” which will finance “energy infrastructure projects with environmental benefits,” according to ISA

ISA’s highway concessions revenues in Chile dipped slightly in 2018 because of higher maintenance costs and an adjustment in accounts receivable, according to the company.

During 2018, ISA and its subsidiaries invested a total of COP$2.4 trillion (US$772 million) in power transmission, highway concessions, telecommunications infrastructure and technological developments.

What’s more, for the period 2019 through 2023, the company now projects estimated capex investments of COP$10.575 trillion (US$3.46 billion).

ISA’s corporate-wide net assets totaled COP$44.9 trillion (US$14.4 billion), up 3.6% year-on-year. The increase in assets incorporated “entry into operation of new projects in the electric energy transport business in Colombia, Chile and Peru,” as well as the incorporation of assets, profits and revenues from its “TAESA” and “IENNE” power businesses in Brazil, according to the company.