Union Andina de Cementos S.A.A.

What it is

UNACEM was formed in 2012 through the merger of Cementos Lima and Cemento Andino, though cement operations trace back to 1916. Today the group spans cement, concrete, and electricity businesses across five Pacific-coast countries: Peru, the United States, Ecuador, Chile, and Colombia.

Its two Peruvian plants — one in Lima, one in Junín — have annual production capacity of over 6.7 million tonnes of clinker and over 7.6 million tonnes of cement. The company operates through three segments: cement production; ready-mix concrete; and electricity generation from hydraulic resources.

Who owns it

The controlling shareholder is Sindicato de Inversiones y Administración S.A. (SIA), which holds 68.03% of the share capital. SIA exercises control through a combined direct and indirect stake of 46.62% and 43.13%, respectively, and has the power to direct the financial and operating policies of the company.

Inversiones JRPR S.A. — a holding vehicle whose General Manager is also a UNACEM board member — is part of the ownership structure, with cross-directorships connecting SIA, Skanon Investments, and UNACEM Corp. The free float is thin, leaving most of the shares concentrated in the Rizo Patrón family orbit.

Who runs it

Ricardo Rizo Patrón de la Piedra serves as Chairman of UNACEM Corp SAA. Pedro Lerner Rizo Patrón serves as Corporate General Manager (the equivalent of CEO) at UNACEM Corp S.A.A., a role he has held since July 2020.

Álvaro Antonio Morales Puppo holds the title of Corporate Vice President of Finance — effectively CFO — and has spoken directly on refinancing plans in earnings calls. The chairman and CEO share the Rizo Patrón surname, reflecting the family character of the group’s leadership.

The money, in plain words

The group increased revenues by 7.5% in 2024 versus 2023, driven by operational efficiencies in Peru, the addition of the Tehachapi Cement plant in California, and a strong performance from its energy arm, Celepsa. Full-year net profit was PEN 407m (USD 119m) — but that was a step down from PEN 533m (US$156 mn) in 2023, as confirmed in the Q4 2024 earnings call.

It keeps about 6 cents of profit from every sol of sales — a net margin of roughly 5.9%, modest for an industrial group but consistent (our calculation). The headline number management prefers is EBITDA — cash earnings before interest, tax, and depreciation — which reached a record PEN 1,660m (USD 486m) in 2024.

Debt relative to those cash earnings improved to 3.08 times from 3.42 times the year before — still elevated, and the single most-watched risk on the balance sheet.

What it is doing now

The most recent strategic move is CALCEM, a joint venture with Mexico’s Grupo Calidra, building an industrial lime plant in the Condorcocha area of Peru, expected to begin operations in 2027 with an initial daily capacity of 600 tonnes. UNACEM Corp holds 51% of CALCEM’s share capital.

On the balance sheet, management announced in early 2025 that it was closing terms to refinance the equivalent of USD 480m in local-currency debt — a priority given that short-term obligations have been high relative to cash. In Q1 2026, revenues rose 7.1% year-on-year to PEN 1.79bn (US$524 mn), though net income fell sharply to PEN 6.6m (US$2 mn), weighed down by higher expenses.

What to watch

• Debt refinancing: net debt sits at roughly 3x EBITDA; how quickly management brings that below its 3x target will determine room for dividends and investment.
• US operations: the US business faces a weak labour market and high mortgage rates, slowing cement demand. Arizona and California are growth bets that have yet to fire consistently.
• Peru infrastructure cycle: UNACEM’s ready-mix subsidiary UNICON was named Best-in-Class Supplier for the Chancay Megaport in 2024 — a signal of exposure to large public projects whose pace depends on Peru’s fiscal calendar and political stability.
• Energy arm margin: both UNACEM Peru and its power subsidiary Celepsa set EBITDA records in 2024; maintaining that in a drought year is the key risk to watch in the energy segment.

This is news, not investment advice.