Unacem Lifts Revenue 10.6% as Net Profit Jumps 65.5%

Peruvian cement producer Unacem Corp SAA (LIM: UNACEMC1) reported Q2 2026 consolidated revenue up 10.6% to 1,931 million soles, EBITDA up 19% and net profit up 65.5% year over year, despite the Camisea incident and higher energy costs.

Unacem Corp SAA (LIM: UNACEMC1), the Lima-listed cement and building materials group, told investors on its second-quarter 2026 earnings call that consolidated revenue rose 10.6% to 1,931 million soles, EBITDA increased 19% and net profit climbed 65.5% from a year earlier. The company said the quarter absorbed two identifiable drags: the Camisea incident and higher energy costs.

The shape of those three numbers is the story. Revenue in the low double digits, EBITDA up roughly 1.8 times as fast as revenue, and net profit growing faster still is the classic signature of operating leverage in a heavy, fixed-cost industry — cement plants that are already built and already staffed, running closer to full through a period of firmer demand.

Why EBITDA Outran the Top Line

Cement economics are unforgiving on the way down and generous on the way up. Kilns, grinding mills, quarries and distribution networks are largely fixed costs. Once a plant clears the volume needed to cover them, each incremental tonne carries a much higher contribution margin. So when revenue advances 10.6% and EBITDA advances 19%, the gap is almost always volume and price passing through a cost base that did not move proportionately.

Management framed the quarter around strong volumes across its key markets, per the account of the call published by GuruFocus. That matters more than a single percentage point of pricing, because volume growth in cement is a reasonably direct read on construction activity: self-build housing, public infrastructure tenders, and formal private projects. Bagged cement sold to individual builders behaves differently from bulk cement sold to contractors, and the mix between them tends to decide whether a revenue gain translates into a margin gain.

The 65.5% jump in net profit sits below EBITDA in the income statement, which means it also reflects everything EBITDA excludes — depreciation, interest expense, currency movements on any dollar-denominated debt, and tax. Net profit growing at roughly three and a half times the rate of revenue growth points to those lower lines helping rather than hurting: lower financing costs, a favourable currency effect, or the absence of a prior-year charge. The company did not attribute the gap to a single item in the disclosed highlights.

The Camisea Drag and the Energy Bill

Camisea is the source of the natural gas that underpins much of Peru's industrial energy supply, and cement manufacturing is one of the most energy-hungry processes in the economy. Clinker production needs sustained high-temperature heat, and grinding needs a great deal of electricity. Any interruption to gas supply forces a producer to lean on alternative fuels, which are generally more expensive per unit of heat and can be less efficient in the kiln.

Unacem flagged the Camisea incident as a headwind alongside higher energy costs generally. The important point for anyone modelling the business is that both were absorbed while EBITDA still rose 19%. That is a statement about pricing power and volume, not about cost discipline alone: a producer that could not pass through fuel inflation would have shown revenue growth with flat or compressed EBITDA. Unacem showed the opposite.

It also sets a comparison base to watch. If the Camisea disruption was one-off in nature, the coming quarters lose a cost headwind, and the margin comparison becomes easier. If elevated energy prices persist as a structural feature rather than an incident, the same 19% EBITDA growth becomes harder to repeat without further volume or price.

Reading a Lima-Listed Cement Producer From the Outside

Unacem trades on the Bolsa de Valores de Lima, which means most global investors encounter it through regional funds or Andean building-materials screens rather than directly. Liquidity is thinner than for a US-listed peer, and the reporting currency is the Peruvian sol — so a US-dollar investor's return depends on the exchange rate as much as on cement volumes.

Context helps here. The broad US market closed lower on the same session, with the S&P 500 tracker (SPY) finishing at $767.45, down 0.68% on the day, the Nasdaq 100 tracker (QQQ) at $717.51, down 1.69%, and the Dow 30 tracker (DIA) at $532.91, down 0.24%, as of 20:00 GMT on 18 August 2026. Those are the reference points a global allocator measures an Andean cement holding against, and they were a risk-off backdrop rather than a supportive one. A domestically driven materials business with volume-led earnings growth is exactly the kind of holding that behaves independently of a technology-led drawdown in New York.

What Decides the Next Two Quarters

• Volume durability. Strong volumes across key markets is the pillar of this result. If construction activity flattens, the fixed-cost leverage that produced 19% EBITDA growth runs in reverse just as quickly.
• Energy normalisation. Whether the higher energy costs cited in the quarter recede or persist is the single biggest swing factor on margin, given how fuel-intensive clinker production is.
• Camisea reliability. A second supply interruption would test whether the company's fuel-switching arrangements can hold margins a second time.
• Quality of the profit jump. Net profit rising 65.5% is striking, but investors should look for how much came from operations versus financing, currency or tax effects before capitalising it into a forward multiple.

On the disclosed numbers, this was a quarter in which a cyclical, capital-heavy producer converted demand into disproportionate profit while paying more for energy than it wanted to. The next test is whether it can do so once the comparison base includes this performance.

Key facts

• Consolidated revenue: 1,931 million soles, up 10.6% year over year (Q2 2026)
• EBITDA: Up 19% year over year
• Net profit: Up 65.5% year over year
• Listing: Unacem Corp SAA, LIM: UNACEMC1 (Bolsa de Valores de Lima); no live quote supplied as of 18 Aug 2026, 20:00 GMT

Frequently asked questions

What did Unacem report for Q2 2026?

Unacem Corp SAA reported consolidated revenue of 1,931 million soles for the second quarter of 2026, a 10.6% increase year over year. EBITDA rose 19% and net profit jumped 65.5% from the prior-year quarter. Management attributed the result to strong volumes across its key markets, despite the Camisea incident and higher energy costs.

Why did profit grow so much faster than revenue?

Cement is a fixed-cost business: plants, kilns and distribution networks cost roughly the same whether volumes are high or low. Once those costs are covered, additional sales carry a high contribution margin. That operating leverage explains why 10.6% revenue growth produced a 19% EBITDA gain, with net profit up 65.5% after depreciation, interest, currency and tax effects.

What was the Camisea incident?

Camisea is the natural gas source that supplies much of Peru's industrial energy. Unacem cited a Camisea incident as a headwind in the quarter, alongside generally higher energy costs. Cement production is highly energy-intensive, so any gas supply interruption forces reliance on costlier alternative fuels. The company did not quantify the impact in the disclosed highlights.

Where does Unacem trade?

Unacem Corp SAA is listed on the Bolsa de Valores de Lima under the symbol UNACEMC1 (LIM: UNACEMC1). It reports in Peruvian soles, so a dollar-based investor's return depends on the sol exchange rate as well as operating performance. Liquidity is generally thinner than for comparable US-listed building-materials companies.

How did global markets close on the same day?

As of 20:00 GMT on 18 August 2026, the S&P 500 tracker SPY closed at $767.45, down 0.68% on the day. The Nasdaq 100 tracker QQQ closed at $717.51, down 1.69%, and the Dow 30 tracker DIA finished at $532.91, down 0.24%. It was a risk-off session led by technology weakness rather than materials.

What should investors watch next at Unacem?

Four things: whether construction volumes hold up, since fixed-cost leverage cuts both ways; whether energy costs normalise or stay elevated; whether Camisea gas supply proves reliable; and how much of the 65.5% net profit gain came from operations rather than financing, currency or tax items. The comparison base now includes this stronger quarter.

Sources

• Unacem Corp SAA (LIM:UNACEMC1) (Q2 2026) Earnings Call Highlights: EBITDA Surges 19. ... — GuruFocus

Photo: Mark Stebnicki · Pexels Licence — source