La Nación S.A.

What it is

La Nación S.A. is a Costa Rican communications company, editorially and financially independent, and the leader in content generation across print, digital, radio, and live-events formats. Its activities span eight segments: newspapers (La Nación, La Teja, El Financiero), commercial printing, paper distribution, radio stations (Bésame, Los 40 Principales, Q’Teja), a real-estate portfolio, digital platforms, the Parque Viva entertainment venue, and the Sabores gastronomy brand.

La Nación is a Costa Rican newspaper published in San José, circulating daily all year except three public holidays. The group is one of the most important media conglomerates in Central America and, before the rise of the internet, held the largest concentration of advertising revenue and print-newspaper circulation in the region.

Who owns it

La Nación forms part of Grupo Nación, whose principal shareholders are the Jiménez family, whose members also hold stakes in important Costa Rican companies such as the beer and beverage producer Florida Ice & Farm Company (FIFCO). A shareholder group representing 44% of the capital of La Nación S.A. sought greater participation in the board in late 2024, triggering an extraordinary governance transition.

The company was originally capitalised by 188 shareholders from agriculture, early industry, and the legal profession. From that small founding group in 1946, La Nación grew to 622 shareholders, of whom 137 are also employees of the company.

No single controlling-family ownership percentage is disclosed in available primary sources beyond the 44% bloc reference.

Who runs it

The board elected in December 2024 is chaired by Pedro Abreu Jiménez as president, with Luis Javier Castro Lachner as vice-president. Abreu also serves as Executive Director of the company; he holds a master’s degree in Media Management from Boston University and a communications degree from American University in Washington D.C.

The finance function is led by Manfred Lachner, Director of Administration and Finance, who holds an MBA from the Universidad Instituto de Empresas in Madrid and a business degree from Purdue University. The CFO title is not used formally; Lachner’s role is the closest equivalent disclosed in available sources.

The money, in plain words

In 2024, the business earned more from its operations than it spent running them — its EBITDA (cash operating profit before debt costs and depreciation) was ₡1,407 million (~US$3.1 million). But after paying financing charges and absorbing foreign-exchange losses, it recorded a net loss of ₡2,033 million (~US$4.5 million) for the period — meaning the debt burden and currency swings more than wiped out the operating surplus.

The book value of owners’ equity works out to roughly ₡42.5 billion (~US$94.3 million), at ₡9.43 per share across 4,507,917,874 shares — a slight fall from ₡9.88 in 2023 (our calculations, from Prospecto data). The company has managed a conservative debt policy, with liabilities mainly tied to plant investment and Parque Viva; 2024 saw a continued reduction in debt through bond repayments.

What it is doing now

In April 2025, the company repaid bond series B-14 — the final tranche of a bond programme originally launched between 2008 and 2014 — paying ₡9,015 million in principal and ₡180 million in interest. The repayment was funded partly by selling non-strategic assets and partly by a new 15-year syndicated bank loan of US$15.27 million from Banco BCT and Banco Promérica (at prime rate plus 1.75%, secured against Parque Viva), per the June 2025 Prospecto.

This clears the company’s entire listed-bond programme.

On 2 May 2026, the United States revoked the visas of five members of La Nación’s board of directors; the board stated this was done without explanation or prior notice, and in an editorial the paper asserted the revocations were punishment for its editorial stance opposing the Costa Rican government, which had been cooperating with the US on migration matters. The board stated that “under no circumstance will these actions change the commitment to or the independent exercise of the journalism that has characterised La Nación during 79 years.”

What to watch

• Debt refinancing cost. The new $15.27M bank loan carries a floating rate (prime + 1.75%, minimum 8.75%) over 15 years. In a period of high US rates, the annual interest bill could exceed the EBITDA, prolonging net losses.
• Parque Viva dependency. A court found that Parque Viva is so central to La Nación’s financial survival that a government-ordered closure of the venue constituted an indirect violation of press freedom — making the entertainment centre both a revenue lifeline and a political lightning rod.
• Digital transition. Print advertising revenues have deteriorated since 2014, with the industry shifting from print to digital, and La Nación having shed 156 workers and closed several print titles. Subscriber revenue must now carry more weight.
• Governance stability. Six of the seven previous board members resigned abruptly in late November 2024, driven by a 44% shareholder bloc seeking greater control. Whether the new board aligns editorial independence with commercial necessity is the defining question for investors and readers alike.
• Press-freedom risk. The May 2026 US visa revocations against board members signal that the paper’s institutional conflicts with government carry extraterritorial dimensions that are without precedent in Costa Rica’s media history.

This is news, not investment advice.

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