Alfa, Banorte, Embraer, Lupatech, Vale: Latin Equity Preview

By William Freebairn and James Attwood

Jan. 30 (Bloomberg) -- The following companies may have unusual price changes today in Latin American trading. Stock symbols are in parentheses and share prices reflect the previous close.

The MSCI Latin America Index fell 1.8 percent to 2,113.56 yesterday. In Brazil, preferred shares are usually the most- traded class of stock.

Brazil

Empresa Brasileira de Aeronautica SA (EMBR3 BS): The world’s third-largest planemaker is considering building a bigger aircraft to compete with Airbus SAS and Boeing Co., Sueddeutsche Zeitung reported yesterday, citing Chief Executive Officer Frederico Curado. Embraer, as the company is known, fell 2.6 percent to 9.04 reais.

Lupatech SA (LUPA3 BS): The maker of parts for the oil and natural gas industries said the company’s backlog of orders rose to a record 605 million reais ($264 million). Lupatech fell 2.7 percent to 24.33 reais.

Cia. Vale do Rio Doce (VALE5 BS): The world’s second- largest nickel refiner reached an agreement with Newfoundland and Labrador to build a plant that would process nickel concentrate in the Canadian province, clearing an impasse that halted shipments. Vale fell 3 percent to 28.50 reais.

Chile

Embotelladora Andina SA (ANDINAB CC): The Coca-Cola bottler with operations in Chile, Argentina, and Brazil reported full- year profit rose 6.7 percent to 94.8 billion pesos ($155 million) last year. Andina was unchanged at 1,520 pesos.

Mexico

Alfa SAB (ALFAA MM): The world’s largest maker of aluminum engine heads and blocks had a fourth-quarter loss of 9.62 billion pesos ($678 million) because of a drop in demand and bad financial bets on natural gas. Alfa fell 8.2 percent to 23.13 pesos.

Grupo Financiero Banorte SAB (GFNORTEO MM): Mexico’s biggest publicly listed bank said fourth-quarter profit tumbled 24 percent to 1.27 billion pesos, the company’s first profit decline in three years. The median estimate of three analysts surveyed by Bloomberg was for adjusted net income of 1.43 billion pesos. Banorte fell 3.8 percent to 19.91 pesos.

Vitro SAB (VITROA MM): The biggest Mexican glassmaker said it will miss $44.8 million in interest payments next week to preserve cash. Vitro fell 2.3 percent to 5.06 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