Grupo Collado, one of the largest steel transformation and service centers in Mexico, registered net earnings of MXN 90.8 million ($4.9 million) in the first quarter of the year, 21.5 percent more than in the same period last year, reported the company to the Mexican Stock Exchange.
The higher earnings were recorded despite a 7.1 percent drop in sales for the quarter, totaling MXN 3.08 billion ($167 million), a drop derived from lower steel prices.
The increase in earnings was generated by a 11.9 percent drop in cost of sales (due to lower steel prices), foreign exchange gains of $461,200, and a 41.4 percent drop in income tax payments.
As of March, the company registered 3,458 workers, 5.1 percent more than in the third month of 2022, 76.5 percent of all workers were blue-collar workers.
Grupo Collado is one of the largest steel processors and transformers with 11 plants, 7 warehouses and 22 sales offices.
The company has as an uncomfortable partner one of its main business adversaries. Since 2010, Grupo Villacero, another steel processor and transformer, has owned 29.7 percent of the shares of Grupo Collado. That shareholding has pitted the two companies against each other in Mexican courts.