Cyrela, Petrobras, Telmex Internacional: Latin Equity Preview

By Alexander Ragir and William Freebairn

July 24 (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 0.5 percent to 4,290.95 yesterday. In Brazil, preferred shares are the most commonly traded class of stock.

Brazil

Rate-sensitive stocks: Brazilian policy makers raised the overnight interest rate by three quarters of a percentage point to 13 percent last night, higher than the 12.75 percent estimate of thirty-one of the 45 economists surveyed by Bloomberg News. Cyrela Brazil Realty SA Empreendimentos e Participacoes (CYRE3 BS), Brazil's biggest hombebuilder rose 5.6 percent to 22.80 reais yesterday. Gafisa SA (GFSA3 BS), the second biggest, gained 5.5 percent to 26.75 reais. Lojas Americanas SA (LAME4 BS), Brazil's biggest discount retailer, rose 1.8 percent to 11.20 reais.

B2W Cia. Global do Varejo (BTOW3 BS): Brazil's largest online retailer increased the amount of bonds it plans to sell in the local market to 364.4 million reais ($230.2 million), according to a statement posted yesterday on the securities regulator's Web site. The Osasco, Brazil-based company said on June 18 that it planned to raise as much as 350 million reais. It didn't give more details on the fundraising plan. B2W dropped 0.4 percent to 57.32 reais.

Natura Cosmeticos SA (NATU3 BS): Brazil's biggest cosmetics company said second-quarter profit rose 13 percent on rising sales of new cosmetics lines. Net income increased to 146.7 million reais from 129 million reais a year earlier, Natura said yesterday in a statement. That's in line with the 144.8 million reais median estimate of five analysts surveyed by Bloomberg News. Natura fell 1.4 percent to 17.95 reais

Parana Banco SA (PRBC4 BS): The Brazilian bank specializing in payroll loans was downgraded to ``neutral'' from ``buy'' at UBS AG by analyst Bruno Pereira. Parana Banco rose 0.2 percent to 9.01 reais.

Petroleo Brasileiro SA (PETR4 BS): Brazil's state- controlled oil company is increasing the number of exploratory wells it is drilling in the Santos Basin off the coast of the country to assess more accurately the size of its pre-salt oil find, Estado de S. Paulo reported yesterday. Petrobras is drilling six wells more than 6,000 meters (19,686 feet) deep, Estado said, citing the Brazillian petroleum regulatory agency known as ANP. Petrobras fell 3.6 percent to 36.10 reais.

Colombia

Textiles Fabricato Tejicondor SA (FABRI CB): Colombia's exports rose 26 percent in May, the government statistics agency said. Exports increased to $3.4 billion from $2.7 billion in the same month a year earlier, the agency said yesterday in an e- mailed statement. Fabricato, the country's biggest textiles exporter, rose 0.4 percent to 25.70 pesos.

Mexico

Consorcio Ara SAB (ARA* MM), Mexico's fourth-biggest homebuilder, was downgraded to ``underperform'' from ``neutral'' at Merrill Lynch & Co. A ``sluggish permitting process'' and ``rising raw material costs'' weighed on margins, analysts led by Mexico City-based Carlos Peyrelongue wrote in a note to clients dated yesterday. Ara rose 0.4 percent to 8.59 reais.

Gruma SAB (GRUMAB MM): The world's largest maker of corn flour said second-quarter net income jumped 56 percent to 689 million pesos ($68.8 million) on higher prices in Venezuela. Sales rose 13 percent to 10.1 billion pesos, the company said in a statement sent yesterday by e-mail. Gruma rose 2.8 percent to 26.94 pesos.

Telmex Internacional SAB (TELINTL MM): The cable-TV and long-distance phone company controlled by billionaire Carlos Slim said second-quarter net income fell 24 percent to 1.19 billion pesos, lagging the 1.86 billion pesos in profit expected by Morgan Stanley Group. Sales increased 11 percent to 18.5 billion pesos. Telmex Internacional fell 2.6 percent to 7.19 pesos.

To contact the reporters on this story: Alexander Ragir in Rio de Janeiro at aragir@bloomberg.net;