- The Group’s performance is down 10.7% from the same period in 2018, mainly due to last year’s extraordinary gain from the early termination of CCU’s Budweiser license in Argentina.
- The German shipping line Hapag-Lloyd, the main asset of Compañía Sud Americana de Vapores (CSAV), performed particularly well during the period.
Santiago, November 28, 2019.- Today Quiñenco announced net income of Ch $137,317 million for the first nine months of 2019, reflecting a decrease of 10.7% compared to the same period in 2018. This is largely explained by the effect last year of CCU’s extraordinary gain on the transaction to terminate its Budweiser license in Argentina.
Another factor behind the variation in Quiñenco’s net income is a weaker performance from Nexans. Although the French multinational has not yet published its 9M19 results, the entity reported negative results in June 2019, due mainly to restructuring costs from its strategic transformation plan. However, Nexans reported operating income of 113 million euros, up 37.8% from the first half of the year, reflecting growth of 37.8% over the first half of 2018.
The third quarter of 2019 saw a particularly strong performance from the German shipping line Hapag-Lloyd, the main asset of Compañía Sud Americana de Vapores (CSAV), which has increased its stake in the company from 25.86% in June 2018 to 27.79% in September 2019. For 9M19, Hapag-Lloyd reported net income of US$322 million and EBITDA of US$ 1,697 million, reflecting increases in average freight rates and volumes, despite higher fuel costs. In September 2019 Quiñenco acquired an additional 5.3% in CSAV, reaching 61.45% as of the end of that month.
The contribution from SM SAAM to Quiñenco’s consolidated results also grew thanks to a strong operating performance from all divisions, particularly the port terminal and towage divisions, and efficiencies from implementing its new operating model. In late October, SM SAAM closed on its purchase of Boskalis’s stake in their joint towage operations in Brazil, Mexico, Panama and Canada, for US$ 194 million. This strategic milestone makes the company the largest tug operator in the Americas and one of the leading operators in the world.
Banco de Chile, in turn, saw a 2.9% increase in earnings, driven by growth in operating income with a 9.2% rise in average loans. Another contributing factor was the favorable impact of paying off SM Chile’s subordinated debt with the Chilean Central Bank in April of this year, 17 years before the original deadline.
In the energy segment, Enex reported 20.3% growth in operating income, driven by the incorporation of Road Ranger, a network of 38 travel centers in the U.S. that was acquired in late 2018. Total volumes reached 3,242 thousand cubic meters, up 9.6% from the first nine months of last year. The net result was Ch $14,833 million, or slightly 0.8% less than the same period in 2018, due to increased financial costs from the acquisition.
Quiñenco is one of the largest, most diversified corporate conglomerates in Chile, with approximately US$62.9 billion in consolidated assets. It has interests in leading companies in the financial, beverage, manufacturing, energy, transportation and port services industries, which together employ over 69 thousand people in Chile and abroad. More information is available at www.quinenco.cl