EPM Announces 16% Year-Over-Year Growth So Far in 2016

Medellín-based public utility Grupo EPM (Empresas Públicas de Medellín) is reporting 16% revenue growth so far in 2016 compared to the same period last year, including a 21% jump for its EPM Matriz.

The company has credited the good results to the consolidation of international investment while also noting that it transferred 595 billion pesos — a little over $205 million USD — to the city of Medellín to be used for social development.

Photo: EPM General Manager Jorge Londoño De La Cuesta in front of the utility’s headquarters in Medellín, Colombia. (Credit: EPM)

In total, Grupo EPM reported revenues of 10 trillion pesos from January through August, with two-thirds of that sum coming from domestic subsidiaries.

The other one-third is the product of international earnings, notably that coming from Aguas de Antofagasta, S.A. (ADASA), a water utility subsidiary in Chile that EPM bought in early 2015 for nearly $1 billion USD. The Antioquia company also has operations in Guatemala, El Salvador, Panama, Mexico, and Chile.

“‘For you, we are there’ is a phrase that brings the spirit of service and commitment with which EPM — as a 100% public organization — assumes its mission in society,” said Jorge Londoño De la Cuesta, general manager of EPM.

The general manager, who was appointed by new Medellín Mayor Federico Gutierrez Zuluaga in January, added that, “the financial results of the company are a reflection of responsible work that looks, with more income, to contribute to the quality of life of the community and the development of the territories in which it operates.”

On top of announcing the financial results, Londoño De la Cuesta also highlighted Fitch Ratings‘ recent confirmation of the company’s local and international credit ratings. “For the third consecutive year,” he said, “the investment-grade BBB+ rating for international bond issuances and AAA for the ability to pay in Colombia — the highest possible rating given in the country — are a demonstration of confidence in the strength of the company.”