Colombia’s Grupo Argos posts 8% rise in Q2 net profit

(Reuters) -Colombian industrial conglomerate Grupo Argos’ second-quarter net profit rose 8% from the same period a year before, the company said on Friday, boosted by revenue increases at its cement and energy units.

Profits climbed to 229 billion pesos ($54.1 million) during the April to June period.

The conglomerate brought in 5.9 trillion pesos in revenue, up 46% from the year-ago period.

The company’s second-quarter earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) grew 7% to 1.4 trillion pesos.

The company added that its power utility Celsia registered an advance in the construction of solar farms, with 17 new plants totaling 260 MW of capacity and investments of 1 billion pesos.

($1= 4,231.45 Colombian pesos)

(Reporting by Valentine Hilaire; Editing by Brendan O’Boyle and Christian Plumb)