Corporacion Aceros Arequipa S.A. (I share)

What it is

Aceros Arequipa manufactures and sells steel products in Peru and internationally, with a range that runs from construction rebars and wire rod to tubes, flat products, calamines, and mill-ball bars. Its core activity is producing corrugated steel, wire rod, bars, and other steel products for the domestic market and for export to Bolivia, with steelworks and rolling mills in both Pisco and Arequipa.

In 2024 the company celebrated its 60th anniversary of continuous operation in Peru and the region. It was formed on 31 December 1997 as the result of a merger between Aceros Arequipa S.A. and its subsidiary Aceros Calibrados S.A., though the original operating entity traces back to 1964.

Who owns it

The principal shareholders are siblings Ricardo and Reneé Cillóniz Champin, who together control a decisive portion of the company. Reneé Cillóniz de Bustamante holds approximately 15% of common shares, followed by Olesa Investment Corporation (a Bahamas-registered vehicle) at about 10%, Ricardo Cillóniz Rey at 8%, and Andrea Cillóniz Rey at 8%.

The Cillóniz group runs a vertically integrated operation, with Aceros Arequipa at the manufacturing centre and a network of distribution and transport companies — including Tradi, Transportes Barcino, and Comfer — that spans the whole chain from steelmaking to final sale.

The company’s governance disclosures detail only shareholders holding more than 4% of shares. Exact combined family control percentage is not disclosed in aggregate form in available sources; the Cillóniz family and related vehicles hold multiple stakes that collectively form the controlling bloc.

Who runs it

Ricardo Cillóniz Champin, a civil engineer with an MBA from Michigan State University, has been Managing Director since 1988 and assumed the title of Executive Chairman on 1 January 2007. Tulio Salgado C.

serves as General Manager (CEO equivalent), with the executive chairman holding the strategic leadership role above him.

Ricardo Guzmán Valenzuela serves as Finance and Administration Manager — the CFO equivalent — and is also the company’s Investor Relations Officer, named in the Q4 2025 earnings report contact block. The board of directors includes members such as Fernando Enrique Carbajal Ferrand (Vice-Chairman), Jorge Guillermo von Wedemeyer Knigge, Pedro Blay Hidalgo, Ricardo Bustamante Cillóniz, Renée Cillóniz Champin, and Manuel Montori Burbank, among others.

The money, in plain words

In full-year 2025, the company brought in S/ 5.20 billion (US$ 1.53 billion) in sales — up 9.4% from 2024 — and kept S/ 296 million (US$ 86.9 million) as net profit, a 48% jump year-on-year. It keeps about 5.7 cents of profit from every sol of sales — a net profit margin of 5.7%, thin by consumer-goods standards but typical for a capital-heavy steelmaker competing against Chinese imports.

For every sol of shareholders’ equity, it earned roughly 9.7 cents in 2025 — a return on equity of approximately 9.7% (our calculation) — and the stock trades at about 3.6 times annual earnings, a price-to-earnings ratio well below the regional metals and mining average. Financial debt stood at S/ 2,495 million (US$ 732 million) at end-2024; by December 2025 the net debt-to-operating-earnings (EBITDA) ratio had fallen to 1.8 times, down sharply from 3.1 times a year earlier — a meaningful improvement in financial strength.

The company also pays a dividend yield of roughly 7.3%, unusually generous for a manufacturing company of this size.

What it is doing now

The most recent material move is the acquisition of two scrap-metal yards in Florida, USA, from Infrabuild Recycling LLC for approximately US$ 9 million; the deal deepens the company’s backward integration into raw-material supply for its steelmaking plant in Pisco. The stated aim is to strengthen raw-material supply for its melt shop.

For 2025, management targeted a 2.5% increase in sales volume and planned to lift dividends from S/ 63.5 million (US$19 mn) to S/ 88 million (US$26 mn). Exports — mainly to Bolivia — already account for 18.4% of total revenue, and the company is expanding its presence in Colombia, Ecuador, and Chile through fully-owned subsidiaries.

What to watch

• Chinese steel dumping. Peru’s construction-steel market is structurally exposed to low-cost Chinese exports; any change in tariff or anti-dumping policy hits Aceros Arequipa’s pricing power directly.
• Peru construction cycle. The company’s products serve construction, mining, fishing, and agro-industry — sectors that move with GDP and public-infrastructure spending. A slowdown in Peruvian public works contracts quickly flows into volumes.
• Debt clock. Net debt, while falling fast, still stood at S/ 1.50 billion (US$ 440 million) at December 2025. The steelmaking lease on Acería N° 2 runs until 2028; any interest-rate rise in Peru or dollar strengthening adds cost pressure.
• Succession and control. The Cillóniz family’s vertically integrated model provides coherence and sustainability, but concentrated family ownership means governance shifts are made quietly; outside investors follow the executive chair closely.

This is news, not investment advice.