MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Chile’s 20 major corporations booming with profits up 18% last year

Copper remains the heart of Chilean business and exports

Business is booming in Chile as the nation’s top 20 major businesses increased their revenue by 18% in 2010. The largest increase in profits came from Chile’s mining sector, where profits grew to 10.9 billion US dollars last year, up 60% since 2009.

This amount also equals about 40% of the total earnings of Chile’s local companies, which totalled 27 billion USD in 2009.

The businesses with the biggest gains included Codelco, Chile’s state-owned copper corporation, which reported increased sales of about 16 billion USD and an annual growth of 30% due to higher copper prices.

The Arauco wood products company, which owns plantations and industrial plants in Chile and Argentina, saw its profits increase 134% due to higher pulp prices and a recovery in demand for wood products.

The Chilean retail company Cencosud, which earned over 12 billion USD in 2010, grew in all the countries where it operates—Chile, Argentina, Peru, Brazil, and Colombia—increasing business sales in supermarkets, department stores, home improvement, commercial, and financial centres.

However, the operating income of Enersis, an electric power company serving Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, and Peru, fell from 11.6% due to higher costs for expensive fuels before the scarcity of water.

The company, which led the list in 2009, increased profits just 1.1% to 13.2 billion USD due to the effects of the Feb. 27, 2010 earthquake on electricity demand.

By Kendra Ablaza- Santiago Times