Colombia’s Cementos Argos sells COP76B in nine month commercial notes

Colombia’s Cementos Argos sells COP76B in nine month commercial notes
30 August 2007


Colombia’s largest cement company, Cementos Argos SA, sold COP76bn (US$35.1m) in nine-month commercial notes Wednesday, the company said in a filing to the country’s securities regulator.  
 
The papers maturing May 29, 2008, will yield the benchmark DTF -a weighted average of the rates paid by financial institutions on 90-day certificates of deposit calculated by the central bank - plus a spread of 1.6%.  
 
Total demand for the notes was more than twice as much the amount sold.  
 
The Medellin-based company said it will use the proceeds as working capital.  
 
The debt issue is part of a COP600bn program approved by the company in September 2005.  
 
Investment bank Bancolombia and brokerage Valores Bancolombia structured the sale.  
 
Cementos Argos and its subsidiaries have plants in the US, Panama, Haiti and the Dominican Republic.  
 
Argos booked a net profit of COP91.83bn ($46.5m) in the first half of this year, up 79% from COP51.22bn in the same period last year.  
 
Published under Cement News