/raid1/www/Hosts/bankrupt/TCRLA

/raid1/www/Hosts/bankrupt/TCRLA_Public/010910.mbx T R O U B L E D C O M P A N Y R E P O R T E R L A T I N A M E R I C A Monday, September 10, 2001, Vol. 2, Issue 176 Headlines A R G E N T I N A ACINDAR: Reports Tenth Straight Quarterly Loss FIAT SPA: Trims Argentine Output Amid Declining Sales SAN JORGE: Employee Cooperative To Resurect Dormant Plant SOCIEDAD COMERCIAL: Continues To Grow Under Bankruptcy Protection B R A Z I L BANESPA: BSCH To Disclose Development Plan C H I L E ENERSIS: Comision Resolutiva Denies Appeal To Lift Measure PSINET: Netglobalis To Continue Managing Chilean Operations E C U A D O R FILANBANCO: Auction To Happen This Week M E X I C O CAZE: Molina Likely To Lose Pepsi-Gemex Control GRUPO SIDEK: Asset Sales Report For August 1 Through 31 GRUPO SIMEC: CSG Swaps Equity For Debt Owed to Parent Company GRUPO TELEVISA: Places US$300M, 10-Yr Notes To Prepay Debts GRUPO TELEVISA: Turns Off Megacable's Channel Transmission PEMEX: To Invest $10B On Natural Gas Expansion - - - - - - - - - ================= A R G E N T I N A ================= ACINDAR: Reports Tenth Straight Quarterly Loss ---------------------------------------------- Acindar Industria Argentina de Aceros SA, the nation's No. 1 maker of steel rods, lost 13.9 million pesos in the quarter ended June 30, its 10th straight loss as a three-year recession slashed production at carmakers and drove up borrowing costs, Bloomberg reported Thursday. For the same period last year the company had a loss of 49.7 million pesos. Acindar said net sales were 112.3 million pesos in the quarter, down from 123 million pesos in the year-earlier period. Borrowing costs on the steelmaker's debt climbed to 14.6 million pesos from 12.8 million pesos in the same quarter last year. For more information on the company's latest financial statements see : http://www.bankrupt.com/misc/Acindar.pdf FIAT SPA: Trims Argentine Output Amid Declining Sales ------------------------------------------------------ As car sales continue to decline in Argentina, Italian carmaker Fiat SpA will reduce output at its Argentine plant outside Cordoba later this month, said Bloomberg Thursday. Fiat's Ferreyra plant, which employs 890 workers, will go to five-day per month shifts after an earlier suspension ends Sept. 17. Earlier, Fiat moved some of its production in Argentina to neighboring Brazil to take advantage of lower production costs. Argentina's car output fell 37 percent in August to a six-month low and sales dropped 42 percent from a year earlier, according to the Adefa carmaker's association. SAN JORGE: Employee Cooperative To Resurect Dormant Plant --------------------------------------------------------- The paper company San Jorge, which has been dormant since its previous owners declared bankruptcy in April, will be opened again, South American Business Information reported Sep. 3. A cooperative of employees has taken over the administration of the industrial plant. Initially, the production plan is for 200 tons of paper. However, Jovito Villalba, president of the co- operative, expressed confidence that they will be able to produce 1,000 tons after repairing machinery. San Jorge used to produce 1,700 tons of paper monthly. SOCIEDAD COMERCIAL: Continues To Grow Under Bankruptcy Protection ----------------------------------------------------------------- Sociedad Comercial del Plata (SCP), led by the Soldatis, continues to acquire companies despite the fact that it has called in the creditors to avoid bankruptcy, South American Business Information reported Tuesday. Its subsidiary company, Compania General de Combustibles (CGC), acquired 11 percent of the shares of Transportadora de Gas del Mercosur (TGM), the owner of the first and only gas pipeline which transports Argentinean gas to Brazil, from the Techint group. CGC managed to obtain US$5.9 million to purchase the position from Techint, TGM's majority shareholder. SCP reportedly has debts of US$842 million. =========== B R A Z I L =========== BANESPA: BSCH To Disclose Development Plan ------------------------------------------ Spanish bank BSCH said it will advance implementation of its development plan for Brazilian bank Banespa, which it acquired for US$4.8 billion, by at least eight months, according to an Expansion report released Friday. The main goal of the plan is to increase the Brazilian bank's market penetration. Banespa has already managed to increase the number of financial products per customer to four from three in November and aims to increase this further to five. Over the last six months, the Brazilian bank has opened 326,000 new accounts and increased its customer base to 3.5 million. Some 5,300 of its 22,000 employees have taken voluntary redundancy and another 2,900 will do so before December. "Banespa turned out much better than expected and we are refuting all the doubts the market had about the deal," said Gabriel Jaramillo, BSCH's Brazil chief. "Banespa is simply a box of good news." Last week Banespa reported a profit of R$235 million (US$91 million) for the first half of the year, down 27 per cent over the same period last year. However, different accounting practices and a series of non-recurring items limit comparisons. Yet Gustavo Murgel, executive vice-president, insists the result was excellent given large one-off costs related to restructuring the company. "We've cleaned the bank and from here on we'll start seeing the benefits." ========= C H I L E ========= ENERSIS: Comision Resolutiva Denies Appeal To Lift Measure ---------------------------------------------------------- Enersis' appeal to lift the precautionary measure imposed on the company in May 1999 has been denied by Chile's Comision Resolutiva, El Mercurio reported Tuesday. The ruling has prevented Enersis from selling Endesa and forced both companies to maintain different boards of directors and different accounting systems. Moreover, it interfered with Enersis' capacity to operate integrated vertical activity in the electrical sector. Enersis participates in generation through its subsidiary Endesa and in distribution through Chilectra. On the other hand, Enersis is relatively relieved by the decision as it brings an end to the case and defines the conditions by which Enersis can continue operating in Chile, according to market sources. However, the worst that could happen to Enersis under the current scenario would be a forced sale of Chilectra. Last year, in January 2000, Enersis was forced to sell Transelec, the transmission company under similar conditions. PSINET: Netglobalis To Continue Managing Chilean Operations ----------------------------------------------------------- Netglobalis, an Internet solutions and service provider, said it would continue managing the Chilean operations of the defunct Internet super carrier PSInet, according to a report in CNN Financial Network Thursday. Netglobalis claims it will help clients of Psinet Chile reduce their costs, increase productivity and efficiency, and expand into new markets. "The company is seeking to maintain its quality of service, increasing its stake in the local market where it sees very attractive business prospects," Netglobalis CEO Carlos Soublette said in a statement. Netglobalis expects to double Psinet's client base to 400 companies by the end of this year. ============= E C U A D O R ============= FILANBANCO: Auction To Happen This Week --------------------------------------- Ecuadorian bank Filanbanco is expected to be auctioned to the private sector this week after the banks commission Junta Bancaria ordered it to sell-off all of its assets and liabilities, including off-shore branches, El Universo said in a report. The advisor to the sale is ING Barings. According to the report, Filanbanco, which had its assets valued at US$600 million, will be liquidated. The bank's liabilities are estimated at US$450 million. =========== M E X I C O =========== CAZE: Molina Likely To Lose Pepsi-Gemex Control ----------------------------------------------- The Mexican government's recent expropriation of 27 sugar refineries may see Enrique Molina losing half his shares in the Mexican anchor bottler Pepsi-Gemex, in which he is chief executive, ft.com reported Thursday. Molina's nine refineries, operated by his sugar company, Consorcio Azucarero Escorpion (Caze), were among those expropriated. Caze had put the mills up as collateral against an outstanding government debt estimated at $1 billion. Under a 1999 agreement, Mr. Molina had also put up the equivalent of nearly half his stake in Pepsi-Gemex as collateral against a loan for Caze. Lender banks BBVA Bancomer of Mexico and JP Morgan Chase have the right to exercise a put option in the case of a default. The loan conditions also stipulate that a default would trigger the early termination of an agreement between Molina and PepsiCo to cede control of Pepsi-Gemex to PepsiCo by December 2002. Mr. Molina would be forced to sell most of his remaining stake in the bottler as well as step down as chief executive. Even though Caze has not been officially declared in default, according to Mexico's finance minister Francisco Gil, the debt of most of the expropriated refineries far outweighed their assets, making them insolvent. GRUPO SIDEK: Asset Sales Report For August 1 Through 31 ------------------------------------------------------- Grupo Sidek, S.A. de C.V. (OTC Bulletin Board: GPSAY GPSBY) announced Thursday a report regarding assets sales from August 1, 2001 to August 31, 2001, pursuant to its obligations under the restructuring agreements entered into with Sidek Creditor Trust: ASSETS SALES REPORT FROM AUGUST 1, 2001 TO AUGUST 31, 2001 (Figures in US$ thousands) Assets with Reorganization Value higher than Sales Reorganization USD$ 5,000 Value Value I. Hotels 0 0 II. Real Estate 0 0 III. Marinas and Golfs 0 0 IV. Other 0 0 Subtotal 0 0 Assets with Reorganization Value less than USD$ 5,000 Subtotal (transactions) 833 N.A. Total 833 N.A. NA / Not available. CONTACT: Alejandro Giordano Trejo of Grupo Sidek, S.A. de C.V., in Mexico, +011-523-678-5911 GRUPO SIMEC: CSG Swaps Equity For Debt Owed to Parent Company ------------------------------------------------------------- In a company press release, Grupo Simec, S.A. de C.V. (Amex: SIM) ("Simec") announced Thursday that effective August 27, 2001, the entire amount of outstanding debt owed by Simec's wholly-owned subsidiary, Compania Siderurgica de Guadalajara, S.A. de C.V. ("CSG"), to Simec's parent company, Industrias CH , S.A. de C.V. ("ICH"), of approximately $58.1 million had been capitalized by converting the debt into shares of Simec's Series B Common Stock. The debt was incurred earlier in 2001 to finance the redemption by CSG of the entire outstanding principal amount of its 10-1/2% Third Priority Notes due 2007. As a result of the capitalization, ICH's debt position was converted into 726,145,989 shares of Simec's Series B Common Stock (the equivalent of approximately 36,307,300 American Depositary Shares). The effective conversion rate of Ps. 0.7294 per share represented a slight premium to the market price of Simec's Series B Common Stock. CONTACT: Lourdes Ivonne Massimi Malo, 52-3-669-5705, or Jose Flores Flores, 52-3-669-5734, both of Grupo Simec, S.A. de C.V. GRUPO TELEVISA: Places US$300M, 10-Yr Notes To Prepay Debts ----------------------------------------------------------- Grupo Televisa, S.A. (NYSE: TV; BMV: TLEVISA CPO) announced Thursday that it successfully priced a U.S. $300 million dollar 10-year Senior Notes offering with a coupon rate of 8%. The Notes were priced at 98.793% for a yield to maturity of 8.179%. The transaction was priced at 14 basis points above the yield on the UMS 2011 sovereign benchmark security given at 3 times over subscription by predominantly U.S. High Grade institutional investors. The use of proceeds of this offering will be to prepay 75% of the $400 million outstanding indebtedness under the 3-year syndicated loan closed in 2000. This transaction further strengthens the debt maturity profile of the Company. The securities have not been registered under the Securities Act of 1933 and may not be offered or sold in the United States absent registration or an applicable exemption from registration requirements. The Company intends to file a registration statement with the SEC in the near future and, upon approval of such registration, will offer to exchange the privately placed indebtedness for publicly registered indebtedness. CONTACT: Mexico - Alberto Islas of Grupo Televisa, S.A., +525- 261- 2000; U.S. & Europe - Adam Miller or Robert Malin, both of The Abernathy MacGregor Group, +1-212-371-5999, for Grupo Televisia, S.A. (TV) To see company's latest finacial statement: http://www.bankrupt.com/misc/Grupo_Televisa.pdf GRUPO TELEVISA: Turns Off Megacable's Channel Transmission ---------------------------------------------------------- Televisa forced Mexican regional cable television group Megacable to suspend transmission of its national and local channels across 30 cities in 8 states to almost 400,000 subscribers. According to an El Financiero report on September 5, Televisa tried to charge Jalisco-based Megacable for use of the signal (initially in the urban Guadalajara area) but it refused to pay. Megacable believes the move is aimed at clearing a path for Televisa to increase its sales of Sky, its satellite TV system. PEMEX: To Invest $10B On Natural Gas Expansion ---------------------------------------------- State-owned oil company Petroleos Mexicanos plans to spend $10 billion over the next five years on contracts with international oil-service companies to expand natural gas production and reserves. According to a report Thursday in Bloomberg, this plan is part of an effort to revitalize Mexican oil and gas production while keeping reserves in Mexican hands. The country is undergoing political changes that might reduce Pemex's tax burden, promote energy investment and internal cost savings, said Pemex director general Raul Munoz Leos. "It's a long term effort in Pemex to change the culture from a paternalistic culture to one where we compete with the other big players" in the oil and gas industry, said Munoz Leos. Pemex expects to award the first contracts in eight months after initial seismic surveys. Halliburton Co., the biggest oilfield-services company, and Schlumberger Ltd., the second-biggest, probably will be among those bidding for projects, mostly involving drilling and technical services, Munoz Leos said. Companies initially will spend their own money on the projects and be reimbursed later by Pemex depending on performance. S U B S C R I P T I O N I N F O R M A T I O N Troubled Company Reporter Latin American is a daily newsletter co-published by Bankruptcy Creditors' Service, Inc., Trenton, NJ, and Beard Group, Inc., Washington, DC. John D. Resnick and Edem Psamathe P. Alfeche, Editors. Copyright 2001. All rights reserved. ISSN 1529-2746. This material is copyrighted and any commercial use, resale or publication in any form (including e-mail forwarding, electronic re-mailing and photocopying) is strictly prohibited without prior written permission of the publishers. Information contained herein is obtained from sources believed to be reliable, but is not guaranteed. The TCR Latin America subscription rate is $575 per half-year, delivered via e-mail. Additional e-mail subscriptions for members of the same firm for the term of the initial subscription or balance thereof are $25 each. For subscription information, contact Christopher Beard at 301/951-6400. * * * End of Transmission * * *