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With Outstanding Financial Results in 2024, Argos Strengthens Its Growth Strategy and Value Creation for Shareholders

  • The company achieved EBITDA growth of over 8% and an adjusted EBITDA margin of 22.6%, expanding by 241 basis points. Operational performance was solid across all regions, with a more agile and efficient operation, in line with the highest industry standards.
  • The successful execution of SPRINT 2.0 enhanced shareholder value distribution and strengthened the business model.
  • With the sale of its 31% stake in Summit Materials to Quikrete, Argos is now in a favorable position regarding financial flexibility and liquidity, aiming to reinvest in the U.S. and other markets.

Argos, the cement company of Grupo Argos, reported an adjusted EBITDA of 1.2 trillion pesos at the end of 2024, representing an 8.6% increase compared to the previous year. The adjusted EBITDA margin stood at 22.6%, with an expansion of 241 basis points from 2023, driven by operational optimization and disciplined execution of the business’s commercial strategy.

Consolidated figures show that Argos dispatched 9.3 million tons of cement and 2.6 million cubic meters of concrete in its Colombia, Central America, and Caribbean regions, generating cumulative revenues of 5.3 trillion pesos.

 

Throughout 2024, the company successfully implemented version 2.0 of the SPRINT program (Stock Price Recovery Initiative), achieving significant milestones in profitability, capital distribution strategies, improved stock liquidity, conversion of preferred shares into common shares, and a share repurchase program. These efforts have led to a total shareholder return (TSR) of 350%, measured in U.S. dollars, since the launch of the program’s first version in February 2023. Additionally, Argos’ stock was ranked among the most liquid in the Colombian Stock Exchange in 2024, reflecting the company’s commitment to value creation and market confidence.

 

The combination of Argos USA with Summit Materials in early 2024 created one of the leading building materials platforms in the U.S. Later, in October, Summit signed a definitive agreement to be acquired by Quikrete. As part of this transaction, Cementos Argos sold its 31% stake in Summit, receiving $2.9 billion in February 2025, consolidating a historic return equivalent to an annual yield of over 20% in U.S. dollars since its entry into the U.S. market—an unprecedented value creation record for Colombian companies in the country.

 

Through this transaction, in addition to continuing cement exports to Summit/Quikrete from Cartagena, Argos is now strategically positioned for a new phase of growth, with the financial flexibility, liquidity, and freedom to rebuild a scalable, high-profitability platform in the U.S. while simultaneously investing in other key markets.

Juan Esteban Calle, CEO of Cementos Argos, emphasized:  “The 2024 results are based on the trust we have built over the years with our customers and stakeholders and reflect the strength of our strategy and our ability to adapt in a dynamic environment. We have exceeded our financial goals and delivered on our commitment to shareholder value generation, achieving a leaner, more efficient, and more profitable operation. With a meaningful purpose, a solid financial position, and a clear strategy, we are prepared to continue driving the company’s growth and advancing our ambition to rebuild our presence in the U.S., reaffirming our commitment to generating value for our shareholders, our country, and society”.

 

 

 

 

PERFORMANCE BY REGION 

COLOMBIA

 

In a challenging environment, the company achieved an EBITDA of 784 billion pesos, a 5.3% increase compared to 2023. The EBITDA margin of 26.6% expanded by 263 basis points. Cement volumes reached 5.4 million tons, while concrete dispatches totaled 2.4 million cubic meters, reflecting a contraction in line with the housing market decline in the country. 

 

CENTRAL AMERICA, CARIBBEAN, AND TRADING

 

The region’s adjusted EBITDA was $142 million, with an EBITDA margin of 25%, expanding by 219 basis points. Cement dispatches totaled 3.9 million tons, while concrete volumes reached 190,000 cubic meters. 

 

SPRINT 3.0 IN 2025

 

For 2025, the company has defined six new pillars as part of the 3.0 version of its SPRINT program, aimed at maximizing shareholder value and strengthening its market presence:

  • Enhancing profitability and financial performance, targeting a ROCE between 14% and 15% for 2025 and expecting an EBITDA margin exceeding 25% within the next two years. 
  • Increasing shareholder distributions, with a dividend proposal of 1 trillion pesos, 50% of which will be base dividends and 50% extraordinary, representing a 71% increase compared to 2024. 
  • Continuing the share repurchase program, which has reached 44% implementation, with a remaining balance of 280 billion pesos to be executed. 
  • Optimizing stock liquidity, aiming for inclusion in the Standard section of the MSCI Emerging Markets Index. 
  • Executing the spin-off of its stake in Grupo Sura, allowing shareholders to capture its value directly. 
  • Capital reinvestment strategy in the U.S., with the goal of building a new platform generating $300 million in annual EBITDA within a 3 to 5-year horizon. 

 

 

RECOGNITIONS FOR ARGOS’ BEST PRACTICES IN 2024

 

Several certifications and recognitions highlighted Cementos Argos’ economic management and benchmark practices in ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) matters:

 

  • Inclusion in the MSCI Emerging Markets – Small Cap and FTSE Russell indices, recognizing its market capitalization and the liquidity of its common shares, resulting from the successful execution of SPRINT. 
  • Cementos Argos ranked first among global industry peers in the 2024 Dow Jones Sustainability Index Corporate Sustainability Assessment, achieving the 100th percentile with a score of 89 out of 100, and was also included in the Dow Jones Best in Class Index (formerly Dow Jones Sustainability Index) for the Latin American Integrated Market (MILA). 
  • National Award for Corporate Social Responsibility, granted by Camacol, recognizing the company’s strong commitment to responsible and sustainable business practices and community well-being. 
  • Friendly BIZ Certification from the Colombian Chamber of Diversity, accrediting Argos as an LGBTQ+-friendly workplace. 
  • Socially Responsible Company Seal, awarded by FundahRSE for the sixth consecutive year in Honduras. 
  • Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Recognition through the “Healthy Homes” initiative in the IV edition of Promising Practices by CONEP and UNDP in the Dominican Republic. 

For additional information, you can contact: 

Piedad Monsalve, Communications and Reputation Senior Director| pmonsalve@argos.com.co 
Indira Díaz, Investor Relations Manager | indira.diaz@argos.com.co 
 
Follow us on X: @Cementos_Argos 

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Atmospheric emissions

We are committed to reducing our emissions through actions that achieve more efficient processes and the implementation of abatement measures, contributing to good air quality in the places where we operate.  Our cement-, concrete- and aggregate-production processes generate punctual and scattered particulate matter (PM) emissions, as well as emissions of sulfur oxides (SO2) and nitrogen oxides (NOx) in the clinkering furnaces of the cement plants.

  • For society:  To contribute to mitigating the impact on air quality in the areas where we operate, acting responsibly and promoting relationships of trust with our Stakeholders.

 

  • For the company:  To develop more efficient processes that allow us to reduce our atmospheric emissions and contribute to responsible production, complying with local regulations in the countries where we operate and – in some cases – going beyond compliance with said regulations, contributing to the profitability of the business and preparing to face future challenges.

The “Emissions” pillar of our Environmental Strategy focuses on: Working on the adequate measurement, control and reduction of SO2, NOx and particulate-material (PM) emissions generated by our production processes in the cement business and on the prevention and mitigation of our dispersed emissions of particulate material (dust), originated mainly by the activities of transportation, transfer, unloading and storage of materials in the cement, concrete and aggregate processes. The foregoing, through operational control, optimization and renewal of emission-control systems to achieve continuous improvement.

Industry positioning

We position ourselves as strategic allies for the development of the territories where we are present, directly and through the empowerment of our value chain.  We do it through the construction of housing and sustainable infrastructure that enables the closing of socioeconomic gaps, the generation of employment, the improvement of the quality of life and the reduction of the impacts generated.

  • For society:  To sustainably respond to the growing demand for housing and infrastructure of the world population with the aim of improving people’s quality of life, interconnecting regions and developing innovative solutions. 

 

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    For the company:  To be strategic allies of the actors in our value chain in order to maintain the Company’s leadership in the market, ensure its competitiveness over time and increase the generation of sustainable value.

We are committed to the role we have as a Company in the achievement of the 2030 Agenda goals, the consolidation of territorial development plans where we operate, and the economic reactivation of the countries affected by the pandemic. Therefore, we focus our efforts in the development of sustainable housing and infrastructure projects that contribute to closing socioeconomic gaps, generating employment under safe conditions, environmental protection, and investment in improving people’s health systems and quality of life. 

Our work unfolds in three large lines:

 

Cities for everyone:

 

With nearly 54% of the world  population living in urban areas, the pandemic made inequality of those who live in the cities of the world

manifest. Nearly 90% of the COVID-19 cases are concentrated in the urban

centers that have, among others, challenges associated with access to basic services and decent housing conditions. For this reason, we work together with our value chain to develop projects that benefit the lessfavored population, facilitate access to housing, and promote development in

the areas of influence.

 

Interconnected cities

 

The need to connect urban areas with rural areas to expand the coverage

of basic services, such as health, has been a priority of developing countries

since before the pandemic. Therefore, during 2020, we continued working on creating innovative solutions that allow us to be present in the large projects of the countries and territories where we are present.

 

Intelligent cities

 

In recent years, the acuteness of the effects of climate change became the

risk of greatest impact to the world. Therefore, in the global stage, a need

has grown to transition to a low-carbon economy, an opportunity that becomes more relevant amid post-pandemic recovery scenarios and the effort we are making as a Company to generate new business models that respond to environmental and social challenges. For this reason, our Climate-Change Strategy includes actions aimed at mitigating the impacts associated with our productive processes, adapting our operating model and innovating from the identification of optimization opportunities.

Supplier management

Supplier management is a fundamental pillar of our Supply Chain Strategy; it seeks to build and strengthen relationships with strategic allies who have the ability to contribute to the Company in terms of efficiency, productivity, customer service and innovation.  For this reason, we carefully select our suppliers, transfer knowledge to promote their development, promote good practices and recognize those who are an example of sustainable, innovative, safe and responsible management.

  • For society:  To develop our suppliers, promote transparent practices and responsible conduct, to improve the productivity and competitiveness of our society and support the construction of a better future.

 

  • For the company:  To seek to add value throughout the Company’s supply chain, from the purchase of goods and services to the delivery of products to clients.  Through the mitigation of risks and potentiation of opportunities, the implementation of good contracting practices and service excellence, we create relationships of trust and turn suppliers into business allies.

Our management is divided into five stages:

  1. Identification: We determine the goods and services required for our operation and the category to which they belong, according to our Category Tree. This groups our suppliers into macro-categories which – in turn – are subdivided into two more specific levels.
  2. Pre-Selection: We validate the suitability of suppliers through due diligence and review aspects of sustainability and financial health to ensure long-term relationships.
  3. Negotiation: We select suppliers with high standards, considering technical, economic, sustainability and service aspects.
  4. Retention and evaluation: We carry out knowledge-transfer processes with those suppliers with growth potential.
    • We characterize our suppliers as critical suppliers or with potential risk in sustainability.
    • We measure the management of critical suppliers through performance evaluations in terms of quality, service, occupational health and safety, having constant feedback and identifying key factors for their development.
    • We apply the Sustainability Index to suppliers with potential sustainability risks, to identify challenges, opportunities, and to develop joint action plans in environmental, economic, social and Human-Rights matters.
    • We implement additional controls and development plans to suppliers belonging to categories where the greatest potential risks have been identified. This is how, for example, we develop road-safety strategies for our logistics suppliers; with mining suppliers, we carry out a more rigorous pre-selection process, and with contractors, we have special controls on occupational health and safety.
    • We have a Transparency Line for Stakeholders to report possible improper actions and to implement the pertinent corrective actions. 
  5. Recognition:  Every two years, through Growing Together (Creciendo Juntos), we recognize the suppliers that have shown outstanding performance in innovation, sustainability, health and safety and development and comprehensiveness.

 

Additionally, we have:

 

Contracting manual: transparent action framework that guides the negotiation and contracting of our suppliers to allow the process to be agile, make use of best practices and carry out adequate risk management.

 

Code of conduct for suppliers: in which we define the principles and behaviors that we expect from our allies in terms of respect for human rights, protection of workers, environmental management, business ethics and responsible business practices.

Ethics and compliance

We are convinced that ethics and integrity are fundamental and non-negotiable; that is why we live by these principles, integrating them into our operations, processes, and strategy, thus generating value responsibly for our business, our Stakeholders, and for society.  Through the Global Governance and Compliance Program, our ethics and business conduct system, we seek to promote that our actions are consistent with the pillars of corporate culture and integrity as the guiding principle of our business activity.

  • For society:  To promote transparent, competitive, and sustainable business environments that strengthen trust and ethics in business, generating positive impacts for the market and society.

 

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    For the company:  To promote that our actions are consistent with the pillars of culture and that integrity is the inspiring principle of all members of the Organization.  This is how we consolidate ourselves as a competitive, reliable company in the eyes of investors and other Stakeholders.

We have voluntarily adopted a self-regulatory framework that confirms our commitment to business ethics as a way to promote transparent practices that contribute to the development of competitive environments. This framework* incorporates mandatory principles of ethics and conduct:

 

 

For the proper implementation and application of these guidelines, the strengthening of the ethical culture, the prevention and control of incorrect actions, our Board of Directors approved the Global Governance and Compliance Program (GGCP, in Spanish). The program structure incorporates international best practices to evaluate compliance programs, such as ISO 37001, ISO 19600 and the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) guidelines. The program has the following scope:

 

 

Likewise, it systematically groups together the activities carried out to promote integrity in the Company’s actions, its employees, and members

of the value chain, which allow the updating and permanent strengthening

of the program. Operating Scheme:

 

Efficiency and productivity

We materialize our Corporate Strategy through actions aimed at the efficient use of resources, the improvement of our financial flexibility and the maximization of income generation and business profitability.  We focus on the application of efficient, safe production processes and circular economy models, on the diversification of energy management models and on the efficient management of the supply chain.

  • For society:  To provide solutions and products that meet the needs of our clients through the responsible, appropriate use of resources and the incorporation of raw materials and alternative energy sources.

  • For the company:  To guarantee business sustainability, optimize working capital and capital investments, reduce costs and the level of indebtedness, and mitigate risks regarding the availability of resources necessary for our operation and the emergence of new business realities, environmental requirements and new regulations.

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