inaudible and press the pound or hash key. Please wait for the tone, then say your company name or affiliation and press the pound or hash key. Thank you. This statement should be taken in conjunction with the additional information about risk and uncertainty set for in CCU's annual report in form 20F, filed with the US Security and Exchange Commission and in the annual report submitted to the CMF and available on on our website. It is now my pleasure to introduce Patricia Jottar. Thank you Carl, Claudia, and thank you all for joining us today. In the second quarter of 2021, CCU continued with a positive momentum by posting strong improvement in volumes and financial results, not only versus last year, but also versus pre-pandemic figures. The latter has been the result of our capability to adapt and operate in a challenging scenario with the COVID-19 pandemic, pandemic through the execution of a regional plan with three points, the safety for people, operation continuity; and financial health, and the successful implementation of our strategy, which focus in maintaining and gain business scale and market share along with a gradual recovery in profitability, as we have shown since the fourth quarter 2020. Regarding our consolidated performance, revenues jumped 14.6% during the quarter, boosted by a 30.5% growth in volumes, and 13.2% higher average prices in Chilean pesos. The sharp volume expansion was explained by a recovery in consumption. A solid sales execution and the strength of our portfolio of brands. In terms of a financial results, consolidated EBITDA more than tripled versus last year, and EBITDA margin improved from 6.2 to 13.1 percent. The better financial result was mainly driven by the increase in consolidated volumes, as mention above, efficiency gains from the Excellence CCU Program with MSD&A expenses sub-percentage of net sales, decreasing from 45.8 to 39.6 percent and 463 basis points expansion in gross margin, mainly due to positive mixed effects and the implementation of revenue management initiatives, and positive net external effects from the appreciation of the Chilean peso against the US dollar affecting favorably our US dollar denominated cost, partially compensated by wine export revenues in foreign currencies and higher cost in raw material in line with the short rally of the commodities during the year. In all net, income totalized a gain of 18,968 million Chilean pesos, versus a loss last year. The Chile operating segment, our top line expanded 54.3% due to 40.2% growth in volumes driven by all main categories and 10.1% higher average prices. The high average prices were associated with both positive mixed effects, mainly based on a strong performance of premium brands in beer and revenue management initiatives. Gross profit grew 65.7% and gross margin improved from 46.1 to 49.5 percent, mainly as a result of the revenue expansion mentioned above, efficiencies in manufacturing and the positive next journal effect from the appreciation of the Chilean peso against the US dollar, affecting favorably our US dollar denominated cost. This was partially offset by higher cost in raw material. MSD&A expenses grew 32.3% consistent with the high, higher volume and marketing activities in line with pre pandemic levels. Although, as percentage of net sales, MSD&A improved from 42.4 to 36.4% due to cost-control initiatives through the Excellence CCU Program. In all, EBITDA expanded 136 points on percent, on perc- six… Excuse me. In all, EBITDA expanded 136.1%, and EBITDA margin improved from 12 to 18.3 percent. In additional, business operate… In international business operating segment, which includes Argentina, Bolivia, Paraguay and Uruguay, posted, uh, 58.2% rise in revenues due to an increase of 39.1% in average prices in Chilean pesos and 13.7% higher volumes. Volume growth was mostly driven by Argentina, although all the other countries posted positive growth. The better average prices in Chilean pesos were explained by revenue management initiatives and positive mix effects in the portfolio, which more than offset negative currency translation effects. In addition, our efforts in pricing allowed us to compensate higher US dollar-denominated costs from the depreciation of the Argentine peso against the US dollar and higher cost in raw materials, posting a gross profit expansion of 114.4% and an improvement in gross margin from 32.7% to 44.43%. MSD&A expenses as a percentage of net sales improved from 69% to 54.4% due to efficiencies from the Excellence CCU Program. Altogether, EBITDA improved 18.2% versus last year. The wine-operating segment reports an 11% rise in revenue, due to a 7.4 expansion in volumes and a 3.4% growth in average prices, volumes were driven by domestic markets and exports, both posting metal single, middle single, single-digit growth. The higher price including pesos were mainly a consequence of a better mix which more than offset the appreciation of the Chilean pesos against the US dollar and its negative impact on exports re- on export revenues. Gross profit was up 6.5%, and gross margin decreased from 39.5% to 37.9% in line with a higher cost of wine, due to the harvest level of 2020. MSD&A expenses as a percentage of net sales improved from 26.8% to 25.6%, thanks to efficiencies driven by the Excellence CCU Program. In all, EBITDA recorded a 4.1% increase, while EBITDA margin increased from 17.8 to 16.7 percent. In Colombia, finally, where we have a joint venture with Postobon, we finished a positive first half of the year with a volume, with a volume expansion over 40% gains in market share and an improvement in our financial results. Specifically, during the quarter, we expanded volumes over 50% with growth in all main brands and categories standing out the performance in premium beer. Now, I will be glad to answer any questions you may have. Thank you. If you would like to ask a question, you may signal by pressing star, one on your telephone keypad. If you're using a speaker, please make sure your mute function is turned off to allow your signal to reach our equipment. Once again, star, one for questions. We'll take our first question from Fernando Olivier with Bank of America. Hi, inaudible. Hi. Good morning, everyone. Thanks for taking my questions. I have two, so I made… The first one is related to Chile. Uh, in your opinion, what explains the solid volume growth in inaudible? So, in terms of this, can you comment what was the volume growth between alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages, and how you expect them to behave the remaining of the year? And I have a, another question. inaudible. Thank you, Fernando. I listened to your voice with a lot of echos. Did you understand the question? Yeah, he's asking about our solid growth in, during, uh, during the quarter, I think, Fernando. And on the other hand, I think, how, how crosstalk- How we expect for the rest of the year. Okay. Okay. Thank you. Again, I, listened to you with a lot of echo. This is the reason why I, I didn't understood you. I, I didn't understand you perfectly. But, I mean, as you know, Fernando knows the group, uh, Chilean consumers and Chilean population have been receiving, um, a lot of, uh, money in our pockets for two reasons, I