Grupo Argos obtained revenues of 14 billion pesos in 2020 and will propose to its shareholders to increase the dividend by 2% in a challenging year

• Revenues for 2020 amounted to COP 14 billion and EBITDA closed at COP 3.4 billion, falling 10% and 11% respectively compared to 2019, by eliminating non-recurring events.
• Consolidated net income reached COP 154,000 million and the cash position at the end of the year amounted to COP 2.7 billion.
• The shock and austerity plan will help ensure liquidity for COP 3.4 billion through operational savings, rationalization of investments and expenses, liquidity credits and tax refunds.
• Shareholders will have the option, at their choice, to receive the dividend in cash, in Grupo Argos shares or in a combination of 50% cash and 50% shares.
• The organization managed to close with the same level of consolidated net debt in a year with a high cash requirement.

The financial results for the year of Grupo Empresarial Argos ratified the organization’s ability to adapt and its financial strength to face these extreme shocks by achieving results that, even impacted by the closures in the economies and with what this represented, exceeded projected expectations at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Revenues for the fourth quarter amounted to COP 3.6 billion and for the year to COP 14 billion, while the EBITDA of the last quarter reached COP 789,000 million, for an annual total of COP 3.4 billion and an adjusted EBITDA margin 25%. This positive behavior is due to the variability of costs and expenses that the company advanced in order to protect the EBITDA margin from year to year.

“We are pleased to show that in such a challenging situation as this, we continue to prioritize the care of the life and health of our employees, conserving employment, strengthening our role of corporate citizenship, and at the same time we manage to maintain our wealth, flexibility and power of the Business Group to develop its long-term vision ”.

Jorge Mario Velasquez
President of Grupo Empresarial Argos

During 2020, the company implemented a shock plan that allowed it to achieve efficiencies in operating expenses of COP 541,000 million and postpone investments of 1,4 billion that gave it greater flexibility to adequately face the situation. Additionally, it took credits for COP 1.4 billion to guarantee liquidity and that during the year were duly prepaid thanks to the solid cash generation of the organization.

The businesses showed a progressive recovery trend in their quarter-to-quarter results, with which Cementos Argos closed the fourth quarter with 4 million tons of cement sold, 2% higher than the volume of the same period of 2019; Celsia, the group’s energy company, closed the quarter with 876 GWh sold, in line with what was registered in the same quarter of the previous year; and Odinsa through its road concessions, reported a total of 123,000 vehicles per day mobilized in December, 3% lower than 2019, while El Dorado Airport registered 1.4 million passengers in the last month of the year, 54% lower compared to the same month of 2019, but with a marked recovery compared to the months of total closure.

With these results, the company and its Board of Directors will submit a dividend of COP 382 per share for consideration by the Shareholders’ Meeting, with an increase of 2%. We highlight that shareholders will have the option, at their choice, of receiving the payment of the dividend in cash, in Grupo Argos ordinary shares or in a combination of 50% shares and 50% cash.

During 2020 the Argos Business Group contributed more than COP 24,000 million to increase the care capacity of the health system with the provision of ICU beds for hospitals, the provision of tests and equipment to increase the diagnostic capacity of COVID-19, the delivery of personal protection items and the donation of food aid to vulnerable families in all regions of Colombia.

In line with that, the company kept the employment of its more than 14,000 employees and contributed to the sustainability of more than 800 of its suppliers, seeking to safeguard the employment of more than 25,000 people in Colombia.