Context: How Bolsas y Mercados Argentinos (BYMA) works, and what it makes issuers disclose · Argentina on the LatAm Power Map
InsuAgro was born out of Argentina’s 2001 crisis, when a Japanese chemical giant left and its former employees built a company in its place. Twenty-two years on, it is now majority-owned by a local biotech group — and fighting through the worst agrochemical downturn in years.
| Full name | Insumos Agroquímicos S.A. |
| Ticker / exchange | INAG — Bolsa de Comercio de Buenos Aires (BCBA) |
| Headquarters | Av. Santa Fe 1731, Buenos Aires, Argentina |
| Sector / industry | Basic Materials / Agricultural Inputs |
| Employees | Not disclosed in available sources |
| Market value (market cap) | ARS 160.6B (~$109.9M USD) |
| Yearly sales (revenue, TTM) | ARS 43.8B (~$30.0M USD) |
| Net profit (TTM) | –ARS ~1.84B (~–$1.26M USD) (our calculation) |
| Net margin (TTM) | –4.2% |
| Return on equity (TTM) | –26.3% |
| Price-to-earnings (P/E) | 16.2× (see note in “The money” section) |
| Dividend yield | Not currently declared |
| Website | www.insuagro.com.ar |
What it is
InsuAgro markets and sells agrochemical products across Argentina, offering herbicides, insecticides, fungicides, adjuvants, plant nutrition products and plant biostimulation, and is also involved in the sale of seed treatments.
It reaches farmers through a network of sales agents spread across the north-west, north-east and centre of Argentina. It does not manufacture — it imports active ingredients, formulates or sources finished products, and distributes them under its own and licensed brands.
Who owns it
Rosario-based biotechnology company Bioceres took control of InsuAgro by acquiring 50.1% of its share capital and 55.05% of its voting rights, paying just over $3.1M USD for the stake.
The purchase was made through Rasa Holdings, the controlling entity of Bioceres. Institutional investors hold roughly 2.7% of the float (EODHD); no insider holdings are recorded in available data, and the remaining ~47% is publicly traded free float.
Who runs it
Luis Delcassé and José Mrejen — two of the employees left without work when the Japanese firm Ishihara exited Argentina in 2002 — are the current directors of the company they went on to found.
Delcassé serves as Chairman, CEO and Managing Director. No separate CFO title is disclosed in available sources.
The money, in plain words
Over the trailing twelve months, InsuAgro brought in roughly ARS 43.8B (~$30M USD) in sales — but lost money doing so, with a net profit margin of –4.2%, meaning it spent about ARS 1.04 (US$0.00)for every peso it earned (our calculation). The return on equity of –26.3% means owners’ capital is being eroded, not compounded.
The stated price-to-earnings ratio of 16.2× is a quirk of timing: it reflects earnings from an earlier profitable period against today’s share price, and should be read cautiously alongside the current losses. Back in 2022, the picture was better: revenue grew 53% year-on-year to ARS 4.9 (US$0.00)B, and the company kept about 3.7 cents of net profit from every peso of sales — a net margin of 3.67% (our calculations) — modest but positive.
A sector-wide slowdown — not a company-specific problem — is the stated reason for the current squeeze; InsuAgro disclosed the weaker performance to Argentina’s securities regulator.
What it is doing now
The company told shareholders it would pay a smaller dividend than projected months earlier, citing a fall in sector activity. The most recent declared dividend represented 26.4% of that year’s profit, below the 30% guidance given previously.
Its parent, Bioceres, continues to position InsuAgro as the distribution arm for crop-protection inputs within a broader Argentine agri-biotech group; the company’s own website confirms it now operates under the Bioceres umbrella, describing it as entering “a new and prosperous stage.”
What to watch
- Return to profitability. The –4.2% net margin and –26.3% return on equity are the central question; watch whether a recovery in Argentine grain prices and farmer spending restores the thin but positive margins seen in 2021–22.
- Bioceres strategy. The parent paid only $3.1M for control — a low price that leaves room for further integration or asset moves; any announcement from Bioceres about its crop-protection business will affect InsuAgro directly.
- Argentina’s macro. InsuAgro imports active ingredients and sells in pesos; any further shift in foreign-exchange policy or import restrictions cuts straight to its cost base and margins.
- Dividend resumption. The company has historically paid annual dividends; a return to full payouts would signal management’s confidence that the sector downturn has passed.
Sources
This is news, not investment advice.
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