Category: Argentina

Argentine oil and gas company YPF, part of Spain’s Repsol-YPF, posted net profit of $415 million for the first quarter, up from $384 million a year earlier. The company invested $214 million in the quarter and exported $719 million.

Argentine steelmaker Acindar posted a $53 million net profit for the first quarter, up 17% year-on-year. Sales rose 36% to $198 million. Acindar exports about 25% of its steel production. Brazil’s Companhia Siderúrgica Belgo-Mineira took control of Acindar last year after recapitalizing the company.

French carmaker PSA Peugeot Citroën plans to invest $125 million in its plants in Argentina to boost output in the country by 110% this year. PSA also plans to start exporting from Argentina to markets beyond Latin America, including South Africa.

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.

Argentina will continue to attract investors as its economy expands, according to Enrique Iglesias, president of the Inter-American Development Bank. Argentina’s GDP grew 9.1 percent in the fourth quarter of 2004. Exports have jumped 34 percent over the past two years and consumers are becoming more confident about spending as unemployment falls. The country’s jobless rate dropped to 12.1 percent at the end of 2004, the lowest level in a decade.

Argentina’s Foreign Minister Rafael Bielsa said a majority of the Group of Seven industrialized nations backs the country’s debt exchange plan. This comes as the IMF is pushing Argentina to start talks with creditors who rejected the swap offer. Bielsa said the restructuring plan is backed by Germany, the US, France and Canada, while the UK and Japan have given “mixed” signals. Italy opposes the offer. Argentina persuaded 76 percent of its bondholders to exchange their holdings for new securities, while holders of about $20 billion in bonds rejected the offer.

US fuel distributor Esso lowered gasoline prices in Argentina on Monday by 2.1-2.9% after the Argentine government threatened to exempt the company from a resolution allowing companies to import diesel tax-free. Anglo-Dutch oil company Shell and Esso raised fuel prices in early March, leading President Nestor Kirchner to call for a boycott of their products. Shell’s sales have fallen dramatically since the boycott began and the company announced last week that is was lowering gas prices.

Canada’s Bank of Nova Scotia is seeking more than $600 million in damages from the Argentine government, blaming actions by authorities for the losses it suffered when it shut down its Argentine banking unit, Quilmes, during the economic crisis in 2002. When the Argentine government revoked Quilmes’ license the bank had 91 branches and 1,700 employees.

Spanish mobile telecom Movistar, a unit of Spanish wireless telecom Telefonica Moviles, plans to invest $155 million in Argentina this year. The number of the mobile telephone calls in Argentina increased 78 percent in 2004, while the number of active handsets increased 46 percent. Movistar has a 43 percent market share in the country.