Eletrobras, Perdigao, Petrobras, Sadia: Latin Equity Preview

By William Freebairn and James Attwood

Sept. 29 (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 1.9 percent Sept. 26 to 3,383.95.

Brazil

Centrais Eletricas Brasileiras SA (ELET6 BS): Latin America's largest utility said it received authorization from the Securities and Exchange Commission to list and trade shares on the New York Stock Exchange. The company plans to list American depositary receipts representing voting and non-voting shares on Oct. 31, it said in a regulatory filing Sept. 26. Eletrobras, as the company is known, rose 1.6 percent to 23.65 reais.

Perdigao SA (PRGA3 BS): Brazil's biggest food company said it has no leveraged operations in derivatives markets. All its currency operations are exclusively to protect the company's positions, Perdigao said Sept. 26 in a statement to securities regulators after other Brazilian companies reported currency losses. Perdigao fell 5.7 percent to 36.29 reais.

Petroleo Brasileiro SA (PETR4 BS): Brazil's state-controlled oil company said a Santos Basin block may hold about 150 million barrels of recoverable oil, the second successful well disclosed in the area in four months. The oil discovered in the offshore BM-S-40 is a light grade of crude, Petrobras, as the company is known, said in a statement on its Web site Sept. 26. Petrobras fell 1.7 percent to 35.43 reais.

Redecard SA (RDCD3 BS): The Brazilian credit- and debit-card processing company faces low risks ``in the medium term'' from proposed legislation regulating the industry, Banco Fator Corretora analysts wrote in a research report e-mailed Sept. 26. Redecard fell 5.4 percent to 23.65 reais.

Sadia SA (SDIA4 BS): Brazil's second-largest food company had its credit rating cut by Moody's Investors Service after Sadia said it lost 760 million reais ($416 million) from currency transactions. Sadia's ratings were cut to Ba3, three levels below investment grade, from Ba2, Moody's said in a statement e-mailed Sept. 26. Sadia was cut to ``underperform'' from ``outperform'' at Banco Fator Corredora Sept. 26. Sadia fell 35 percent to 6 reais.

Mexico

Empresas ICA SAB (ICA MM): Mexico's biggest construction company has had lower growth because of delays in government spending on roads, bridges and energy projects this year, IXE Grupo Financiero analysts Patricio Rivera and Carlos Gonzalez wrote in a research report sent to clients Sept. 26. ICA fell 3.3 percent to 32.79 pesos.

To contact the reporters on this story: William Freebairn in Mexico City at wfreebairn@bloomberg.net; James Attwood in Santiago at jattwood3@bloomberg.net