Friday, February 27, 4:45 PM EST (Thomson Financial): Latin American
stocks were mixed, with Mexican shares declining, as investors took some
profits while digesting a flurry of mixed earnings news. Meanwhile, Argentine
issues rose on expectations for some strong quarterly results from local
companies. Brazil's market was closed for the Carnival holiday and will remain
closed through Wednesday afternoon.
Mexico's benchmark Bolsa Index fell 246.22 points, or 1.29%, while
Argentina's Merval Index gained 9.57 points, or 0.55%.
Mexican shares dropped, as investors extended a move Friday to cash in
some of last week's strong gains. A mixed batch of earnings news also helped
to direct trading.
On the earnings front, home construction company Corporacion Geo SA said
its fourth-quarter net profit rose to 452.7 million pesos from 340.3 million
pesos a year earlier, as sales climbed to 3.21 billion pesos from 2.48 billion
pesos.
Also reporting, beverage group Femsa said its quarterly net income fell
14% to 1.66 billion pesos due to a lower monetary gain and higher taxes at its
Coca-Cola Femsa bottling unit. However, revenue jumped by 8%.
Grupo Modelo's fourth-quarter operating profit fell to 3.06 billion pesos
from 3.23 billion pesos a year earlier, while net profit was also lower, as
results were hurt by increased costs and higher taxes. Still, sales rose to
12.13 billion pesos from 11.36 billion pesos.
State oil monopoly Petroleos Mexicanos posted a 16% surge in 2005 sales to
a record $86.1 billion. In the fourth quarter, Pemex had sales of $23.7
billion.
In other corporate news, Grupo Mexico called off the week-long search for
65 workers trapped in a mine in northern Mexico. Meanwhile, Mexican President
Vicente Fox requested a probe into the cause of the accident to determine
whether the company was abiding by safety laws.
Elsewhere, Argentine issues advanced amid optimism about upcoming earnings
reports from Tenaris and Telecom. Tenaris is scheduled to report is fourth-
quarter results on Wednesday, while Telecom's results are due out on March 9.
In economic news, statistics office, Indec, said today that Argentine
construction activity fell 4.1% in January from December and climbed 17.6%
from January 2005. In December, construction activity rose 3.8% on a month-on-
month basis and gained 24.3% from a year earlier.
-- Paul.Davee@thomson.com; Thomson Financial Corporate Services
This is Thomson Financial Corporate Services Latin American Commentary.
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SOURCE Thomson Financial Corporate Group
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