Juan Minetti posts profits

Increased sales and a successful financial restructuring helped Juan Minetti, Argentina’s second largest cement producer, post a P121m (US$41.3m) net profit in 2003, recovering from a 210mn net loss the year before.  For the period, Minetti posted a P123m operating profit, versus an P18.3m operating loss in 2002, and net sales jumped 52 per cent to P380m, the company said in a statement to the country’s securities regulator (CNV).  The company’s cement sales reached 1.64Mt in 2003, up 26.5 per cent from the year before.