2017 was an exceptional year in which we made significant progress on the path to achieving our vision. Date prisa y empieza a ganar con https://vogueplay.com/ar/cleopatra-tragamonedas/en nuestro casino. ¡Recursos limitados!

In the fourth quarter of the year, we announced the purchase of Vigor Alimentos, S.A. in Brazil, and with it took a transcendental step forward to becoming North and South America’s favorite dairy company.

Vigor is a Brazilian firm, founded in 1917, that leads that country’s dairy market with a focus on healthy, value-added products and growth through innovation. The company has nine plants located in central and southeastern Brazil where leading national brands are produced, like Vigor, Danubio and Faixa Azul, in addition to the Amélia brand for the institutional segment.

For Grupo Lala, bringing Vigor Alimentos into our family in the Americas is a unique opportunity to venture into the Brazilian market, which is not only Latin America’s largest economy but it also the region’s largest dairy market.

We are very pleased that Vigor is our to build a profitable dairy business with high added value.

We advanced steadily toward our vision, with confidence and results: from a presence in only 3 countries in 2013, we were operating in 7 countries at the close of 2017, with 696 million potential consumers.

RESULTS

In 2017, net sales totaled MXN62.54 billion, a 17% increase over 2016. Within this growth, sales by businesses that were part of the Group in 2016 grew 12.6%, and the Vigor acquisition in October contributed the remaining 4.4%.

Gross earnings grew 15.2% in 2017, to MXN23.38 billion pesos, equivalent to 37.4% of net sales. Operating expenses rose 18%, including expense relating to the purchase and integration of new businesses and the operating expense of business outside of Mexico that presently operate with less efficiency than our domestic operations. Operating income outpaced gross earnings with a 17.7% growth, ending the year at MX6.17 billion, spurred on by productivity initiatives in Mexico.

EBITDA for the year 2017 was MXN8.04 billion, a 17.3% growth over 2016. In comparable terms (excluding the benefits and costs of Vigor), EBITDA was MXN7.67 billion, which is 11.7% higher than the year before. Net income for the year 2017 totaled MXN3.34 billion, a 20.4% reduction, affected mainly the costs associated with the debt taken on with the Vigor acquisition, taxes paid on the sale of Itambé, and the net tax affect of monetary balance accounts.

DEBT

As of December 31, 2017, total debt came to MXN30.97 billion, 92.42% of it short-term and the remainder long-term. This debt includes the bridge loan used to finance the Vigor acquisition, Brazilian debt acquired in local currency, and the refinancing of working capital instruments in Brazil.