Mexican glassmaker plans $146 mn investment

Mexico City, May 1 (IANS/EFE) Mexico's Vitro, one of the world's largest glassmakers, said it planned to invest 1.77 billion pesos ($146 million) in different projects this year.

"The authorized amount represents an increase of 65 percent compared to the investment carried out in 2012," Vitro chairman Adrian Sada Gonzalez said in a filing with securities regulators.

The investment will be used to boost capacity at the Envases y Vidrio Automotriz unit, as well as to improve equipment and facilities, in an effort to consolidate the company's market-leading position, Sada said.

Vitro posted outstanding results in 2012, with net consolidated revenues up 10.3 percent to 23.11 billion pesos ($1.9 billion), CEO Adrian Sada Cueva said.

Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) rose 6.2 percent to 4.48 billion pesos ($368 million), Sada Cueva said.

Vitro will pump 80 percent of its investment into projects in Mexico, focusing on increasing production and modernizing plants, Sada Cueva said.

Vitro, which was founded in 1909 in the northern city of Monterrey, is Mexico's largest producer of glass products for industrial, construction and household use.

The company has plants and distribution centers in 10 countries in the Americas and Europe, exporting its products to 50 nations.

--IANS/EFE

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