Mexican railway concessionaire TFM, a subsidiary of US railroad operator Kansas City Southern (KCS), has placed $460 million of its 9.38% senior notes due 2012. The proceeds of the sale will be used to refinance 11.8% debentures that will mature in 2009. The sale was restricted to non-US, qualified institutional buyers.
Category: Daily Brief
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Embratel May Up Investments
Brazil’s long-distance phone carrier Embratel may invest more than the $540 million initially planned for this year. CEO Carlos Henrique Moreira said that further investments will depend on the success of a capital increase of up to $700 million being carried out by Mexican parent company Telmex. Embratel’s capital increase is slated to be completed on April 27.
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Entel’s Profit Rises
Entel, Chile’s second largest telecoms group, posted a net profit of $33 million for the first quarter, up 31 percent year-on-year. The company’s revenue grew to $313 million, up 4.0 percent. In 2004, Entel posted a net profit of $82 million, down 23 percent, due to the underperformance of its foreign subsidiaries. The company operates in Chile, Peru, Venezuela, Central America and the US.
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Gutierrez Ousted
Ecuador’s President Lucio Gutierrez was ousted by Congress Wednesday, the third leader to be removed since 1997, amid allegations he stacked the Supreme Court with allies and helped clear an ex-president of corruption charges. Lawmakers voted 60 to 2 to replace Gutierrez, then swore in Vice President Alfredo Palacio as president. Gutierrez was arrested at the Quito airport and held at a military base. The political tumult pushed down Ecuador’s bond due 2012 to a seventh-month low, and spurred declines in debt sold by neighboring Peru and Colombia.
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Brazil Raises Rate
Brazil’s central bank unexpectedly raised its benchmark lending rate for an eighth straight month in a bid to rein in inflation. Central bankers voted unanimously to lift the overnight interbank rate 25 basis points to 19.5 percent. Retail sales rose at their slowest pace in 15 months in February and industrial output grew at its weakest pace in four, evidence the expansion in South America’s biggest economy is decelerating. But consumer prices rose 7.5 percent in the 12 months through March, above the central bank’s 5.1 percent year-end target.
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Bush Pushes CAFTA
US President George W. Bush urged congress to approve a free trade agreement with Central America (known as CAFTA) to help bolster US exports. Central America is the US’s 13th-largest export market, bigger than Russia, India and Indonesia combined, and the US is the biggest buyer of Central American products. Goods worth about $33 billion are expected to be traded between the US and Central America this year.
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Chile’s Trade Surplus Higher
Chile’s trade surplus stood at $6.1 billion, up 31 percent year-on-year. The leading exports were copper, fresh fruits, cellulose and salmon. Chilean exports to Asia grew 46 percent, exports to the Americas increased 26 percent and sales to Europe rose 16 percent.
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Argentina: Industrial Output Rises
Industrial output in Argentina rose 4.1% year-on-year in March and 6.1% in the first quarter. Growth was led by the automobile sector, whose output rose 30% in the quarter. All other sectors registered output growth except tobacco, which dropped 27% year-on-year.
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Brasil Telecom’s Profit Falls
Net profit at Brazil’s third largest network Brasil Telecom fell 38% in the first quarter to $17.6 million, although sales rose 18% to $957 million. The company has extended discounts of as much as 50% on wireless calling plans to compete with rivals Vivo, Telecom Italia Mobile and America Movil, which control most of the Brazilian market.
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Camargo Correa to Buy Loma Negra
Camargo Correa, Brazil’s fourth-biggest cement producer, said it has agreed to buy Loma Negra, Argentina’s largest cement company, for $1.03 billion in cash and assumed debt. Camargo didn’t provide more details about the deal. Loma Negra produces more than 3 million tons of cement per year in nine plants in Argentina and employs 1,900 people. The sale is subject to approval by Argentina’s National Commission for the Defense of Competition. This is the third time an iconic Argentine company has sold out to a Brazilian competitor after brewery Quilmes and oil producer Perez Companc sold out in 2002.