Merrill Lynch opens Grupo Mexico cover with “buy”
Merrill Lynch began coverage of Mexican copper giant Grupo Mexico with a “buy” rating on Tuesday, pointing to strong prices, a debt restructuring and improvements in returning cash to shareholders.
Merrill Lynch set its 12-month price target for Grupo Mexico at 26 pesos per share. They were trading on Tuesday morning at 18.57 pesos, up 1.31 percent in the session.
Grupo Mexico has leveraged record metals prices to tidy up its finances, reducing net debt from $2.5 billion in December 2004 to $1.4 at the end of June.
Grupo Mexico is the world’s No. 3 copper producer with mines in Mexico, Peru and the United States.
Merrill said Grupo Mexico’s share price was at a discount to its global peers and that the company had showed “improved discipline” in giving cash back to shareholders with dividends and share buybacks.
More: today.reuters.com
Cintra, Grupo Mexico, Renner, Petrobras: Latin Equity Preview
The following stocks may make significant gains or losses in Latin America today. Symbols are in parentheses after the company name and stock prices are from the last session.
Mexico
Cintra SA (CINTRAA MM): Shares of Mexico's Cintra SA, the state-owned airline holding company, have plunged 21.6 percent after it said Nov. 22 two groups submitted bids to buy Aeromexico and Mexicana, the country's two biggest airlines. The shares fell 8 centavos, or 1.6 percent, to 5.05 pesos.
Grupo Mexico (GMEXICOB MM): Copper prices rose in New York yesterday, resuming a yearlong
Walmex, Grupo Mexico, ICA, Gerdau, AmBev: Latin Equity Preview
The following stocks may make significant gains or losses in Latin America today. Symbols are in parentheses after the company name and stock prices are from the last session.
Mexico
Wal-Mart de Mexico SA (WALMEXV MM): Latin America's largest retailer plans to rent five buildings from Mexican supermarket chain Super Chalita SA to add stores in the cities of San Luis Potosi and Matehuala, the company said yesterday in a statement to the Mexican exchange. Walmex shares fell 36 centavos, or 0.7 percent, to 52.22 pesos.
Grupo Mexico (GMEXICOB MM): Copper futures
Peru Bonds Outperform Mexico's Debt on Growth, Slower Inflation
Peru's dollar-denominated bonds are outperforming emerging market debt sold by countries including Mexico as four years of economic growth and record low inflation lure investors.
Putman Investments and Standish Mellon Asset Management Co. are among investors buying Peru's bonds, betting the nation's credit ratings will rise. President Alejandro Toledo has helped spur 48 straight months of economic expansion, the second-best performance in Latin America, and cut the inflation rate to a three-year low of 1.2 percent. Surging exports of gold and copper are buoying growth in a country where mining and
Google Opens Offices in Mexico and Brazil
Brad Hill from the theunofficialgoogleweblog posts that Google has recently opened offices in Mexico City and Sao Paulo, Brazil. In July, we posted that Google had acquired San Paulo-based, Akwan Information Technologies and planned to open a research and development center there. Btw, the theunofficialgoogleweblog post also points out that Google is now trading at over $400/share. As I post this item, it's trading at $403.84, an all-time high.
More: blog.searchenginewatch.com
Grupo Mexico, Axtel, Gol, Tractebel: Latin Equity Preview
The following stocks may make significant gains or losses in Latin America today. Symbols are in parentheses after the company name and stock prices are from the last session.
Mexico
Grupo Mexico (GMEXICOB MM): Mexico's antitrust agency may block Grupo Carso SA, the Mexican industrial group controlled by billionaire Carlos Slim, from selling its railroad to copper producer Grupo Mexico SA, said Eduardo Perez Motta, president of Mexico's Federal Competition Commission yesterday. Grupo Mexico, which operates the Mexican railroad Ferromex, announced on Nov. 25 it agreed to buy Ferrosur SA in exchange
Globalia teams up with Mexico's Grupo Angeles for local airlines bid
Spain's Globalia Corporacion Empresarial has teamed up with Mexico's Grupo Angeles to place a bid for two local airlines, Saturday's La Gaceta de los Negocios reported, citing unnamed sources close to negotiations.
Grupo Angeles, a real estate company, will hold 75 pct of the consortium while Globalia will hold the remaining 25 pct, the newspaper said.
The two airlines on the block are state-owned Mexicana de Aviacion and Aeromexico.
Source: forbes.com
Miners file murder charges against Grupo Mexico
A Mexican union has filed murder charges against mining company Grupo Mexico and the government after 65 miners were killed last month in an explosion at a coal mine.
Mexico's miners' and metalworkers' union said late on Thursday it formally accused Grupo Mexico, Labor Minister Francisco Salazar and two mine inspectors of homicide.
The workers died after a methane explosion at the Pasta de Conchos mine in the northern state of Coahuila on Feb. 19.
Union leaders say Grupo Mexico , the world's No. 3 copper miner, ignored safety concerns but the company has denied negligence.
Co-workers gave
Grupo Mexico official says Asarco strike settlement possible
Officials from Mexican copper mining concern Grupo Mexico SA were meeting with union representatives Friday to try to resolve a three-week-old U.S. strike at the company's Asarco unit, an official said Friday.
In a conference call with analysts to discuss Grupo Mexico's second-quarter results, chief financial officer Eduardo Gonzalez said he believed a solution to the strike was possible.
Friday's meeting was the first between management and the union since more than 1,500 workers went on strike in Arizona and Texas to protest the company's proposed wage freeze and reductions in health and pension
Google opens offices in Brazil, Mexico
Search engine Google Inc. on Thursday said that it has opened offices in Sao Paulo, Brazil, and Mexico City, as it looks to accelerate growth in Latin America.
The offices will be charged with boosting use of Google Web sites and increasing advertising sales in the region for the Mountain View, California-based Internet company.
The Mexico operation is led by Gonzalo Alonso, formerly sales director for the T1MSN Internet service. Google's operation in Brazil is managed by Alexandre Hohagen, who was previously Brazil general manager for HBO.
Source: today.reuters.com
Six years after buying U.S. copper giant Asarco and its prized Peruvian assets, Grupo Mexico might opt to sever links with its U.S. unit and end fights with its feisty union.
With all 1,500 unionized workers at Asarco on strike alleging "bad faith" contract negotiations by the company and both sides not even in talks, analysts say Grupo Mexico could turn its back on its troubled U.S. operations.
The Mexicans have openly said they are considering asset sales at Asarco, which Grupo Mexico bought for more than $2 billion in 1999, an acquisition that almost sank the company when copper prices then
