Asur, Inpar, JBS, Parque Arauco, Tenaris: Latin Equity Preview

By William Freebairn and Paulo Winterstein

Sept. 3 (Bloomberg) -- The following companies may have unusual price changes today in Latin America trading. Stock symbols are in parentheses, and share prices are from the previous close. Preferred shares are usually the most-traded class of stock in Brazil.

The MSCI Latin America Index fell 1.5 percent yesterday to 3,851.12.

Argentina

Tenaris SA (TS AF): The world's biggest maker of pipes for the energy industry said it will invest $1.6 billion to expand capacity at a steel-pipe-making plant in Mexico. The Veracruz plant will install a rolling mill with annual production capacity of 450,000 tons of seamless pipes, Luxembourg-based Tenaris said yesterday in a statement distributed by Market Wire. Tenaris dropped 6.4 percent to 77.40 pesos.

Brazil

Inpar SA (INPR3 BS): The Brazilian developer that last month said sales this year will be less than previously forecast was rated ``hold'' in new coverage at Fator Corretora. Difficulty in finding financing for construction projects may lead Inpar to miss its forecast of 1.4 billion reais ($841 million) of contracted sales, analyst Eduardo Silveira wrote in a note yesterday. Inpar fell 2 percent to 3.50 reais.

JBS SA (JBSS3 BS): The world's biggest beef producer may have its B1 credit rating cut by Moody's if its purchase of National Beef Packing Company LLC and Smithfield Beef Group Inc. is approved by U.S. antitrust agencies ``in its current form.'' JBS's ``risk profile would increase in the short-to-medium term following the acquisitions of the new assets,'' Moody's Senior Analyst Soummo Mukherjee wrote in a statement yesterday. JBS, which had its rating put on review for downgrade on July 25, fell 1.5 percent to 6.40 reais.

Chile

Parque Arauco SA (PARAUCO CC): The shopping center developer and operator plans to spend $1 billion on 11 projects to be opened by the end of 2010. The Santiago-based company hopes to double the floor space it rents out by 2010, Chief Executive Officer Andres Olivos said in an interview with Bloomberg Television yesterday. Arauco closed unchanged at 460.02 pesos.

Mexico

Grupo Aeroportuario del Sureste SAB (ASURB MM): Mexico's biggest non-government airport operator will be allowed to bid on a project to build a new airport in the southeastern region of the country, Reuters reported yesterday. The tender will be published at the end of October, the news agency said, citing Ministry of Transport and Communications Chief of Staff Manuel Rodriguez. Asur, as the company is known, rose 2.2 percent to 50.06 pesos.

To contact the reporter on this story: William Freebairn in Mexico City at wfreebairn@bloomberg.net; Paulo Winterstein in Sao Paulo at pwinterstein@bloomberg.net.