Grupo Mexico posts narrower quarterly profit as mining sales fall

Image: Grupo Mexico

Mining and transport conglomerate Grupo Mexico reported on Thursday a 30% drop in its third-quarter net profit compared to the same period last year, affected by lower sales in its mining sector.

Quarterly profit for the company, which operates sprawling freight railroads in Mexico as well as major base metal mines across its home country plus the United States, Peru and Spain, totaled $587.26 million during the July to September period, the company said in a statement.

Revenues stood at $3.12 billion, down 14.6% from the year-ago period and missing a Refinitiv forecast of $3.19 billion.

Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) for the quarter came in at $1.42 billion, down 34.7% from the previous year.

Grupo Mexico, one of the world’s largest copper miners, also posted a 9.6% drop in copper production from January to September to 737,560 tonnes. It said the result was mainly due to non-recurring events such as the “illegal blockade” of its Cuajone complex in Peru during the first half of the year and variations in ore grade.

The conglomerate is controlled by billionaire German Larrea, Mexico’s second-richest tycoon, who is reportedly preparing a bid to potentially acquire Citigroup’s local retail banking arm Citibanamex.

Last month, a unit of Grupo Mexico agreed to buy Planigrupo Latam for around $235 million to diversify its revenue stream.

(By Carolina Pulice, Valentine Hilaire and Aida Pelaez-Fernandez; Editing by David Alire Garcia, Christopher Cushing and Cynthia Osterman)

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