The Latin Trade Group announces its selection of Ramon A. Leal Chapa as CFO of the Year. With this award, Leal Chapa joins the ranks of some of the most distinguished financial executives in Latin America.
Under Mr. Leal Chapa’s watch, Monterrey-based ALFA has seen EBITDA double since 2008 to $1.85 billion, and revenues top $15.2 billion in 2012. Over the same period, the company’s stock price has also increased nearly 850 percent – a rate much faster than the average for the Mexican Stock Exchange (BMV). The company has also made capital expenditures totaling $3.4 billion in the past four years – nearly $870 million in 2013 alone. Through a number of key acquisitions, the company has dramatically increased its international profile.
ALFA is a Mexican conglomeration of five companies in diverse industries, including petrochemicals, high-tech auto-parts, refrigerated foods, telecommunications, and a United States-based shale gas producing company. It is the world’s largest producer of aluminum engine components for the automotive industry, and one of the world’s largest producers of polyester. A subsidiary of the company is North America’s leading maker of processed meats, and the largest producer of hot dogs in the United States – producing 1.25 million tons per year. The company has 85 production plants across 18 countries in the Americas, Europe, and Asia, and employs about 60,000 people globally
Truly overseeing a corporation of this size, while increasing profits and share price, is a tremendous feat for any CFO. Leal Chapa joined ALFA in 2009, before which he occupied diverse executive positions at Vitro, including vice president of vice president of Strategic Planning, Mergers and Acquisitions, and vice president of Corporate Finance. Before, he held executive functions in Grupo Pulsar, Vector Casa de Bolsa, and Violy & Partners in New York.
Leal Chapa is a graduate of the Universidad de Monterrey, and holds a Masters degree in Operations Managements from Instituto Tecnologico de Monterrey, and an MBA from Harvard Business School.
Leal Chapa received the award in person at Latin Trade’s CFO Forum in Mexico City. The award has been given to professionals such as the CFOs of Petrobras and Cosan in Brazil, as well as America Movil and Grupo Mexico in Mexico.
LT CFO Forum are private events that offer CFOs, finance directors, treasurers and controllers from various industries in Latin America the opportunity to participate in high-level peer group discussions and interact in a private setting. The events equip CFOs with expert insight that helps them prepare for challenges across domestic and international borders.