Juan Minetti Q1 net profit falls 55.8%

Juan Minetti, Argentina’s second largest cement producer, saw first quarter net profits drop 55.8% to 28.8m pesos (US$10m) from 1Q03 due to exchange rate differences, the company said in a statement to the country’s securities regulator.

For the period, operating profit increased 73.2% to 45.9mn pesos and net sales grew 33.3% to 110mn pesos.

In 2003, increased sales and a successful financial restructuring helped Minetti post a 121mn-peso net profit, recovering from a 210m-peso net loss the year before. The company’s cement sales reached 1.64Mt in 2003, up 26.5% from the year before.