Chilean energy and forestry company Empresas Copec SA said its net income surged 471% year over year in the first quarter, partly due to a strong performance of its forestry business.
Net income rose to $280 million in the period from $49 million in the year-ago quarter. Operating income climbed to $427 million from $271 million a year ago, while the nonoperating loss narrowed to $54 million from $199 million.
EBITDA rose to $681 million from $507 million in the first quarter of 2017.
Empresas Copec's Arauco unit booked net income of $198 million in the first quarter, compared with a net loss of $46 million in the same period a year ago. Net income in the Copec division fell to 37.68 billion Chilean pesos from 50.88 billion pesos due to lower operating and nonoperating performance in Chile.
As of May 29, US$1 was equivalent to 627.08 Chilean pesos.
