The Peruvian cement company consolidated its operations in the southwestern North American market under the UNACEM North America (UNA) brand between January and March 2024.
In its latest presentation of financial statements, the UNACEM Group, a Peruvian consortium, specialized in cement, concrete and energy businesses, announced the results obtained during the first quarter of 2024, highlighting consolidated income of S/ 1,605 million (US$ 422 millions).
This increase of 13.9%, compared to the same period of the previous year, is mainly due to the incorporation of the energy generation company Termochilca and the cement company Tehachapi to its portfolio, added to the good performance of all the business units of the Cluster.
In this regard, Pedro Lerner, CEO of the UNACEM Group, pointed out that they continue to strengthen their management in the North American southwest.
“ US operations will represent 20% of our revenues and, with the addition of Tehachapi, now represent more than 15% of our total installed cement capacity.
“We have completed the first stage of the integration process with our California operations as scheduled and launched the rebrand under the UNACEM North America Cement name last month as planned,” said Lerner.
Regarding the consolidated CAPEX and the execution of investment projects, aligned with the sustainability strategy, these reached S/ 95 million (US$ 25 million) at the end of March 2024.
The main investments are related to the dust removal system for kiln 3 and roofing of the Clinker fields in Atocongo (Lima) and Condorcocha (Áncash) at UNACEM Peru; incorporation of new machinery, concrete equipment and improvements at the crude mill in Drake; mixer trucks, vans and front loaders at UNICON Peru; authorization of the Talca Plant in Chile; among others.
The consolidated EBITDA for the quarter was S/ 419 million (US$ 110 million), 7.2% higher than the EBITDA of S/ 391 million (US$ 102 million) registered in the first quarter of 2023.
The EBITDA margin in the first quarter of 2024 was 26.1%, slightly lower than the same period in 2023 (27.7%), mainly due to higher sales costs in the cement units, given the lower production in Peru and Ecuador that generated a loss of economies of scale.
These, and other administration expenses for the integration of Tehachapi and Termochilca, as well as greater advice, consultancies and donations, were partially offset by the sale of four lots of land in the United States.
For his part, Álvaro Morales, Corporate Vice President of Finance of Grupo UNACEM, added that “ this is the first quarter that reflects the results of last year's acquisitions.
Our consolidated revenues during the first quarter of 2024 were primarily driven by the acquisitions of Termochilca and Tehachapi, as well as higher sales in our ready-mix concrete and energy operations.
This, together with higher average prices in the cement business in Peru, resulted in a year-on-year increase of 13.9%.”
RESULTS BY BUSINESS UNITS AND COUNTRIES :
In Peru, UNICON stands out with total revenues of S/ 341.0 million or US$ 89.8 million (22.6% higher than in the first quarter of 2023) and an EBITDA of S/ 35.2 million or US$ 9.2 million (116.2% higher than the same period in 2023). This significant increase is due to the greater volume of large infrastructure works attended.
Similarly, Celepsa achieved revenues of US$ 31.9 million, 22.3% more than the first quarter of 2023 and an EBITDA of US$ 15.7 million, 17.8% more than what was achieved in the same period of the year. last year.
At UNACEM Ecuador, the current political situation continues to affect the performance of business in that country.
Compared to the first period of 2023, the pre-mixed concrete operation was 8.1% lower, as was the cement dispatch with 6.2% less.
The Group reported that in UNACEM North America, the higher volumes due to the integration of Tehachapi and higher average prices allowed it to achieve revenues of US$ 86.8 million (45.0% higher than in the first quarter of 2023) and an EBITDA of US $15.0 million in the quarter, 100.3% more than the same quarter last year.
In April, the cement operations of its Drake Cement and Tehachapi Cement plants were integrated under the UNACEM North America brand, this as part of its consolidation in the US market.
Finally, in UNACEM Chile, CLP 11,668 million (US$ 13.1 million) were reached in cement shipments, 5.8% more than in the first quarter of 2023.
UNICON Chile, for its part, had revenues of CLP 16,203 million or US$ 18.2 million (6.0% higher than in the first quarter of last year).
The UNACEM Group also reported on the acquisition of 50% of the shares of Prefabricados Andinos – Preansa Chile, which will begin to control 100% of said company as of the first quarter of 2024.
