Alfa SAB, Cosan, Net, Oi, Suramericana: Latin Equity Preview

By Paulo Winterstein and James Attwood

Aug. 1 (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 1 percent to 4,335.93 yesterday. In Brazil, preferred shares are the most commonly traded class of stock.

Brazil

Cosan SA Industria & Comercio (CSAN3 BS) and Sao Martinho SA (SMTO3 BS): Brazil's sugar and ethanol industry association, known as Unica, is in talks to hire a law firm to challenge a U.S. tariff on Brazilian ethanol imports, Marcos Jank, president of the association, told reporters in Sao Paulo yesterday. Cosan, the world's biggest sugar-cane processor, fell 1.4 percent to 30.79 reais. Sao Martinho, the second-biggest publicly traded sugar and ethanol maker, gained 2.7 percent to 26.50 reais.

Net Servicos de Comunicacao SA (NETC4 BS): Brazil's telecommunications agency plans to ban cable TV companies from charging extra monthly fees when customers request additional connections. Anatel, as the agency is known, may allow companies to charge a one-time installation fee for each additional connection, board member Pedro Jaime Ziller told reporters yesterday in Brasilia. A final decision will be made after Aug. 25. Net, Brazil's biggest cable-TV company, rose 0.9 percent to 19.42 reais.

Tele Norte Leste Participacoes SA (TNLP4 BS): Brazil's largest phone company reported yesterday a 47 percent drop in second-quarter profit on costs to acquire control of Brasil Telecom Participacoes SA. Net income fell to 249 million reais ($159 million), less than the 480 million reais average of five estimates compiled by Bloomberg. Tele Norte, which sells services under the Oi brand, gained 2.7 percent to 37.20 reais.

Colombia

Suramericana de Inversiones SA (SURAMIN CB): The parent of Colombia's biggest bank plans to list shares in New York. The board authorized management to proceed with the registration of level 1 America depositary receipts to tap foreign investors and boost trading volumes, the company wrote in a regulatory filing posted on the regulator's Web site yesterday. Suramericana rose 2.8 percent to 16,680 pesos.

Mexico

Alfa SAB (ALFAA MM): Mexico's largest sandwich-meat maker, said it agreed to buy Braedt SA, a Peru-based producer of processed meats, for an undisclosed price. Braedt employs 450 people and is expected to have sales of $30 million this year, Alfa said in a statement to the Mexican stock exchange. Alfa fell 1.1 percent to 64.95 pesos.

Grupo Mexico (GMEXICOB MM): Mexico's copper output fell 47 percent in May from a year earlier as a strike at Grupo Mexico SAB's largest mine cut production. Copper production declined to 18,465 metric tons in May, Mexico's National Statistics Agency said on its Web site. Mexico's largest mining company declined 1.3 percent to 17.8 pesos.

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