Colombia’s government is planning to prepay $500m in debt to multilateral banks this year to make use of surplus tax revenues and save up to $185m in interest payments. Public credit director, Julio Torres, said the prepayments would be made over the next five months on loans maturing between 2009 and 2017 from the World Bank and CAF.
Category: Regions
Posted inDaily Brief
Santander Set To Return to Peru
Spain’s Grupo Santander has been granted a license to operate in Peru by the country’s banking superintendency. The approval means Santander will return to Peru after a five-year absence. In 2002 it sold its retail and mutual funds business to local Banco de Crédito for $50m. In February, Santander applied for a license to offer financial and investment banking services to corporates and other institutions in Peru. HSBC of the UK won approval to start operations in Peru last October. Earlier in the year, Canada’s Scotiabank bought control of Banco Sudamericano and merged it with Banco Wiese, which it had purchased in 2005, to create a new entity in which Scotiabank holds 80%.
Posted inDaily Brief
De Nicolás Back As Homex Chief Exec
Homex, one of Mexico’s largest housing constructors, has named Gerardo de Nicolás as its new chief executive, reappointing him to a post he held until last September when he stepped down to spend more time on strategic planning. He replaces David Sánchez who came from Infonavit, the largest, government-run home finance agency, where he had been head of planning and finance. Sánchez resigned with effect from June 5 to “pursue new interests”, according to a company press release.
Posted inDaily Brief
Mexico’s Mifel Preps Perp
Banco Mifel, a local Mexican bank, is planning to raise $150m in non-call 5 perpetual notes by the end of the month. The issuance of the subordinated bonds, rated BB by Fitch, is designed to fortify the bank’s capital base. Deutsche Bank is leading.
Posted inDaily Brief
Peru and Venezuela Inflation Rises
May consumer price data shows Andean countries suffering the same problem as much of the rest of the region: inflation. According to the government statistics agency INEI, the IPM index rose 0.88% in May, versus 0.21% deflation in May 2006. Lima metropolitan area prices rose 0.49% in May, more than expected. “We believe that the high May inflation mark raises the probability that the Central Bank will increase interest rates at the next monthly monetary policy meeting, scheduled for June 7,” says Goldman Sachs. “We now assign a 60% probability that the Central Bank will raise the reference interest rate by 25bp to 4.75% on June 7,” the shop adds. It pins price hikes on rapidly expanding domestic demand. Meanwhile in Venezuela, Caracas metro area prices gained 1.73%, following a 1.41% increase in April. Goldman predicts Venezuelan inflation could well reach 20%.
Posted inDaily Brief
Chrysler To Expand Mexico Operations
US auto-maker Chrysler is to invest a further $570m to expand its operations in Mexico. The company announced it will build a new plant in Saltillo in the northern Coahuila province. The new plant, which will produce a new family of “Phoenix” cars, is due to be operational by 2009, said the company.
Posted inDaily Brief
Hipotecaria Vértice Plans Issue Through Ixe
Mexico’s Hipotecaria Vértice is out with a MXP2bn certificados bursatiles issue through IXE. HSBC is the trustee and the deal comes from a MXP2bn program.
Posted inDaily Brief
Mexico Exchange Eyes October IPO
The Bolsa Mexicana de Valores is hoping to list itself locally in the early part of the fourth quarter, though exact timing has yet to be determined, Alfredo Guillén, a director at the Bolsa tells LatinFinance. The listed entity will be a holding company, called Bolsa Mexicana de Valores, that will also include other entities like Indeval, the securities depository, and MexDer, the derivatives exchange. Currently, the exchange is undergoing general due diligence and valuation procedures, and details like the amount of float and pricing will also be addressed in the coming months. BBVA Bancomer and UBS were tapped to lead the offering. While Bancomer has a strong local presence, UBS has a proven track record in taking exchanges public, says Guillén.
Posted inDaily Brief
Colombia May Inflation Up 0.3%
Colombia registered inflation of 0.3% in May, and took inflation for the 12 months through May to 6.23%. Consumer prices rose to 4.42% for the first five months of the year, compared with 2.71% for the same period in 2006. Price rises in May were driven by health (+0.49%), food (+0.47%) and housing (+0.36%) costs. The Central Bank has set a target range of 3.5-4.5% this year.
Posted inMagazine
The Incredible Shrinking Market
Mexico’s stock market is losing listings faster than it can find new ones. Nothing authorities do to try and fix it seems to work, as each new law hastens the exodus.