Elementia, S.A.B. de C.V. announced preliminary earnings results for the fourth quarter and year ended December 31, 2017. For the quarter, the company reported net sales of MXN 6,097 million, operating income of MXN 467 million, EBITDA of MXN 1,006 million compared to the net sales of MXN 5,451 million, operating income of MXN 414 million, EBITDA of MXN 984 million for the same quarter a year ago. Net loss was MXN 126 million against profit of MXN 762 million a year ago. Negative free cash flow was MXN 670 million against MXN 4,168 million a year ago. Loss before income taxes was MXN 7 million against profit of MXN 706 million a year ago.

For the year, the company reported net sales of MXN 25,713 million, operating income of MXN 2,657 million, EBITDA of MXN 4,442 million compared to the net sales of MXN 19,090 million, operating income of MXN 2,293 million, EBITDA of MXN 3,595 million for the previous year. Net income consolidated was MXN 521 million against MXN 772 million a year ago. Negative free cash flow was MXN 286 million against positive free cash flow of MXN 426 million a year ago. Income before income taxes was MXN 1,400 million against MXN 1,077 million a year ago. Interest loss was MXN 33 million against MXN 97 million a year ago. Net debt was MXN 14,351 million against MXN 13,096 million a year ago. Net cash flow provided by operating activities was MXN 1,537 million against MXN 4,252 million a year ago. Acquisition of property, machinery and equipment was MXN 2,485 million against MXN 4,027 million a year ago. CapEx for 2017 was more than MXN 2.5 billion, mostly including the investments in the U.S. Cement and Tula plant's expansion in Mexico, along with organic CapEx that includes mainly maintenance and bolt-on expansions.

The company provided capEx guidance for 2018. For 2018 the company assigned around $90 million for CapEx, which will be broken down as follows: around $60 million for maintenance and bolt-on expansions and around $30 million for Giant cement operations in the U.S.