Grupo Argos announces at its Shareholders' Meeting a commitment to reduce its emissions by 46% by 2030

• Within the framework of the fight against climate change, Grupo Empresarial Argos has established itself as a leader in environmental compensation through the planting of nearly eight million trees in the country.
• During 2021 the organization will add more than four million trees in compensation and will reach a total of 12 million in six years, strengthening its leadership in planting in the country.
• Cementos Argos will continue to lead the transformation of the industry with the launch of its portfolio of green solutions and the industrial scaling of the use of microalgae to capture CO2 and the use of alternative fuels.
• In the next three years, Celsia will put into operation more than 1,000 MW of solar and wind energy to consolidate a power generation matrix in which non-conventional renewable sources weigh 25%.

This Thursday Grupo Argos held its General Assembly of Shareholders, during which it announced an ambitious strategy to compensate, mitigate and adapt its businesses and operations with the aim of contributing to the reduction of the effects of climate change with the reduction of 46% of its CO2 emissions by 2030 for every million pesos in revenue.

In 2021, Grupo Empresarial Argos will reach 12 million native trees planted in Colombia during the last six years, with an additional four million by 2020 as a relevant compensation mechanism.

In addition, the organization projects the installation of more than 1,000 MW of solar and wind power in the next three years in its energy business through its own resources and the platforms created with international partners to drive business growth and that only in 2021 they will represent investments for more than COP 3.4 trillion.

In the cement business, positive progress has been made in the industrial scaling of the use of microalgae to capture CO2, the use of alternative fuels through the co-processing of waste, the production of biomass and the growth of solutions in its green portfolio.

“We are pleased to announce our commitment to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions by about half per million pesos in revenue by 2030, a very important step towards carbon neutrality and that arises from the deep conviction in the need to add all the efforts to continue the fight against climate change. “

Jorge Mario Velásquez – President of Grupo Argos

Financial results
During the meeting, the financial results for 2020 were announced, confirming the organization’s capacity to adapt and the financial strength of the organization to face extreme shocks by achieving results that, even impacted by the closures in the economies and with what this represented, exceeded expectations projected at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Consolidated results:

• Consolidated revenue: COP 14 trillion
• Consolidated Ebitda: COP 3.4 trillion
• EBITDA margin: 24%
• Earnings before taxes: COP 406 billion
• Net profit: COP 154 billion
• Net income of the parent: COP -100 billion

Separate results:

• Income: COP 256 billion
• Ebitda: COP 83 billion
• Net profit: COP -59 billion

Decisions of the Shareholders’ Meeting
At the Meeting, the payment of a dividend of $ 382 per share was approved, which will be paid in cash in full, but, at the shareholder’s choice, it may be received as follows: (i) 50% of the dividend in cash and 50% of the dividend in shares of the company; (ii) 100% of the dividend in shares of the company; or 100% of the dividend in cash. The shareholder who wishes to receive the payment of the dividend, totally or partially, in shares, must declare it between March 25th and April 9th, 2021.

The Assembly also ratified the company’s Board of Directors, made up of diverse ways in terms of gender, skills and experiences by Rosario Córdoba Garcés, Claudia Betancourt Azcárate, Ana Cristina Arango Uribe, Gonzalo Alberto Pérez Rojas, Carlos Ignacio Gallego Palacio, Jorge Uribe López and Armando Montenegro Trujillo.