Aracruz, Ecopetrol, Telecom Argentina: Latin Equity Preview

By Paulo Winterstein and James Attwood

July 3 (Bloomberg) -- The following stocks may have significant gains or losses in Latin American markets. Symbols are in parentheses after company names, and stock prices are from the last session.

The MSCI index of Latin American shares fell 2.9 percent to 4,491.80 yesterday. In Brazil, preferred shares are the most commonly traded class of stock.

Argentina

Telecom Argentina SA (TECO2 AR): Argentina will prevent Telecom Italia SpA from exercising options to increase its stake in Sofora Comunicaciones SA, the holding company that controls Telecom Argentina, BAE newspaper said. The government also asked Telecom Italia to avoid ceding its stake in Sofora to a third company, the Buenos Aires-based newspaper reported yesterday, citing a resolution issued by Argentina's communication secretariat. Telecom Argentina, the nation's No. 2 telephone company, fell 0.7 percent to 9.14 pesos.

Brazil

Aracruz Celulose SA (ARCZ6 BS): The world's biggest maker of eucalyptus pulp was reiterated ``outperform'' by Fator Corretora analyst Lika Takahashi after it announced the purchase of Boise Cascade Ltda. assets, which includes 15,400 hectares (38,054 acres) of land in the south of Brazil. The acquisition, for $47.1 million, will help supply Aracruz's pulp mill in Guaiba at low transport cost because of the land's proximity to the mill, the analyst wrote. Aracruz advanced 1 centavo to 11.51 reais.

Porto Seguro SA (PSSA3 BS): Brazil's fourth-largest insurance company showed ``rebounding'' profit in May and is ``on track'' to report second-quarter net income of 100 million reais ($62 million), above Deutsche Bank AG analyst Mario Pierry's estimate of 86 million reais, according to a note e- mailed yesterday. Porto Seguro, rated ``hold'' at Deutsche Bank, fell 1.9 percent to 17.65 reais.

Colombia

Ecopetrol SA (ECOPETL CB): Colombia will impose a tax on oil production when prices exceed $90 a barrel, the country's oil minister said yesterday. The tax will apply only to new contracts, Hernan Martinez said in an interview with Bloomberg Television. The tax rate on additional income will rise to 50 percent when oil costs $180 a barrel, from 5 percent at $90 a barrel, Armando Zamora, executive director of the National Hydrocarbons Agency, told Bloomberg Television. Ecopetrol, the state oil company, rose 0.4 percent to 2,575 pesos.

Mexico

Desarrolladora Homex SAB (HOMEX* MM): Mexico's largest homebuilder took out a $200 million credit line with Grupo Financiero Inbursa SAB. The credit line will last five years and comes with an interest of the benchmark TIIE rate plus 1.35 percentage points, Homex said in a statement to the Mexico City stock exchange. Homex, which will use the funds to buy land and existing developments, added 0.7 percent to 101.30 pesos.

Peru

Southern Copper Corp. (PCU/C PE) and Cia. de Minas Buenaventura SA (BVN PE): Peru's government this week declared a national mine strike illegal, a Labor Ministry spokeswoman said. The ruling makes it possible for mining companies to fire employees who don't show up for work, ministry spokeswoman Rosa Arguedas said yesterday in a telephone interview. Southern Copper, the world's seventh-largest copper producer, fell 2.8 percent to $102.50. Buenaventura, the world's seventh-largest gold producer, lost 2.1 percent to $64.60.

To contact the reporters on this story: Paulo Winterstein in Sao Paulo at pwinterstein@bloomberg.net; James Attwood in Santiago at jattwood3@bloomberg.net.