Ecopetrol beats Petrobras market value
Colombian oil company Ecopetrol has overcame Petrobras as the biggest business in Latin America in market value measures. According to Economática consultancy, Ecopetrol has a market value of over US$ 126 billion. That is an increase from the US$ 89 billion obtained last year by the Colombian company when Ecopetrol was just the fifth most valued. Petrobras’ market value fell from US$ 155 billion last year to nearly US$ 23 billion. AmBev valued last Tuesday more than mining company Vale with US$ 109 billion.
GNB Sudameris buys HSBC unities in four countries
GNB Sudameris group, a company based in Colombia, acquired all HSBC operations in Colombia, Peru, Uruguay, and Paraguay. The purchase costs US$ 400 million. The transaction included 62 offices and assets. Currently, GNB’s assets are over US$ 6 billion and a patrimony of nearly US$ 500 million. “We have 106 bureaus in the most important cities in Colombia and controls Servibanca, with approximately 2,000 ATMs in 450 municipalities of my country. This transaction is the most important of the bank’s history”, said the CEO of GNB Sudameris, Jaime Gilisnki. The intention of GNB now is to consolidate the growth of HSBC brand in those four countries.
Brazilian textile industry importing from Peru
The Brazilian textile industry is buying more and more from Peru. The imports of clothes from the Andean country increased 57.5 percent in 2011. Market projections say that these imports would grow over 400 percent in the next four years. The main reason for the growth are the high taxes on clothes manufactured in China, Vietnam, and Bangladesh. “Besides having a high quality cotton, Peru also has the commercial advantage of no taxes”, told to newspaper Folha de São Paulo Luis Melo, a commercial manager of Richards, a cloth brand in Brazil.
Private pensions grows 26% in Brazil
Brazilians invested 26 percent more in private pensions accounts in the first quarter of the year. The deposits summed R$ 15 billion (US$ 7.5 billion) from January to March, according to the National Association of Private Pensions. Considering just March, the growth was of 40 percent and a record. The biggest growth rate were for individual plans (28 percent).
Peru to get US$ 30 billion in mining investments until 2014
Mining and hydrocarbons will get US$ 30 billion in investments in Peru, according to the country’s minister of Economy, Luis Miguel Castilla. Castilla also said that in four year the amount would grow to US$ 50 billion. He also revealed last week that the country is among the five countries with more investments in mining. “These investments are very important even though the country still did not reach its potential”, told Castilla to reporters, citing the projects Antamina and Cerro Verde.
Coal production increases 14.6% in Colombia
The coal production in Colombia up 14.6 percent in the quarter, says the Colombian Geological Service. The increase highlights the good moment for exploration in the country and also the improvements with safety. The country produced 23 million tons of coal in the period, mostly exported to the US and Europe. The projection to 2012 is to make 97 million tons. In 2011, Colombia produced 85 million tons of coal.
ALL: US$ 1.2 million losses
Transportation group América Latina Logística (ALL) had a loss of US$ 1.2 million in the first quarter of 2012. In the same period of last year, the company saw a profit of US$ 250,000. The net revenue, on the other hand, increased 16.2 percent to US$ 334 million due to a growth in rail traffic, but the yield decreased 3.5 percent. “The grain crops in Brazil may fall 7.1 percent and this reduction reflects the pressure to the prices of transportation”, explains a release from ALL.
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