Category: Brazil

Brazil’s Finance Minister Antonio Palocci called on developed countries to lift barriers on farm products from developing nations. Speaking at the International Monetary Fund and World Bank spring meetings in Washington, Palocci said a successful completion of the Doha Round of trade talks would translate into annual gains of $250 billion through 2015, with more than one third of that amount going to developing countries.

Brazil’s benchmark bond due in 2040 rose $1.10 to $114.20 after US Fed policy makers played down inflation fears and hinted they would continue raising interest rates at a measured pace. Yields on US 10-year Treasuries fell to a five-week low, helping lure investors to higher-yielding emerging market bonds. The extra yield investors demand to hold a Brazilian 10-year bond instead of a similar maturity Treasury has narrowed to 3.45 percentage points from 4.12 percentage points on March 28.

Citigroup won approval from Brazilian regulators to retake control of three phone companies, defeating a challenge by the former manager of its $728 million investment fund, Daniel Dantas. The decision clears one obstacle to Citigroup’s plans for removing Dantas and the executives he named while he managed the bank’s shares in Brasil Telecom, Brazil’s third-biggest telephone company, and two mobile phone companies. Dantas has been fighting to stay in control of Brasil Telecom since March 9, when he was fired by Citigroup.

Petrobras, Brazil’s state-controlled oil company, is studying offshore oil and natural gas exploration in Pakistan after company officials visited the country last week. The visit by Petrobras officials comes after Pakistan’s President Pervez Musharraf visited Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva in November.

Brazilian steelmaker CSN will pay Brascan Brasil R$100 million ($37 million) in cash and stock for Ersa, a tin mine and foundry in the Amazon state of Rondônia. CSN uses 3,600 tons of tin annually to make tin-coated sheet iron, one of the company’s highest-value products and plans to increase production capacity at the mine to 3,600 tons per year and output at the foundry to 4,800 tons per year by 2009.

Daniel Dantas, former Citigroup manager of a $728 million fund in Brazil, was charged with racketeering and breach of confidentiality in connection with a Brazilian probe into whether he hired security firm Kroll to spy on the government and business rivals. The charges, all of which Dantas has denied to the police, are preliminary and must be confirmed by a Brazilian court.

TAM, Brazil’s second-biggest airline, said it plans to sell shares in an offering to Brazilian and US investors. The Sao Paulo-based airline and its controlling shareholders, including the Amaro family, filed a petition to sell preferred shares as part of the offering. The company has not yet disclosed details of the offering and the dates of the sale.

Brazil’s no-frills airline Gol Linhas Aereas Inteligentes reported first quarter revenue of $225 million, a 36% increase from the same period of 2004. The company’s revenue per seat kilometer rose 6.9% to $8.24. Gol, which started operations in early 2001, became a publicly traded company last year.