Information regarding the business sector.
The food company Molinos Rio de la Plata presented yesterday its financial results for the first quarter of the year, and reported a net loss of 114 million pesos ($1.7 mn), due to the impossibility of transferring the increase in costs to the prices of its product portfolio. Molinos has been presenting negative balances for at least three years.
Aeropuertos Argentina 2000 S.A. announced the results of its offer to exchange any and all of its outstanding 6.875% Senior Secured Notes due 2027 in the original aggregate principal amount of $400 million for newly issued 6.875% Cash/9.375% PIK Class I Series 2020. Additional Senior Secured Notes due 2027, and solicitation of consents to certain proposed amendments to the indenture governing the Existing Notes. On May 1, 2020, $340.9 million aggregate original principal amount of Existing Notes, representing approximately 85.23% of the total original principal amount of the Existing Notes, had been validly tendered for exchange and not validly withdrawn, as confirmed by the Information Agent for the Exchange Offer.
Yamana Gold (NYSE:AUY) says it entered into an option agreement to sell up to 40% interest in a joint venture formed to hold the Suyai gold project in Argentina’s Chubut province. The initial deal to secure the option is for $2 million but has later amounts including $31.6M in various installments. A moratorium on mining currently is in effect in Chubut province, which must be lifted for the project to receive approval to proceed.
Nucleoeléctrica Argentina will continue with its nuclear plan and will focus on nuclear power generation as one of the reserves of power and energy. “This sector is fundamental and vital for the interests of the country,” said the Energy Secretary Sergio Lanziani.
Argentina’s Central Bank has developed a private blockchain for payments based on IOV Labs’ Bitcoin smart contract network. The bank will test the network to track the status of claims and payments in real time.
The travel company Despegar suspended 500 employees and will apply salary reductions of up to 60% and sign up for the Work and Production Assistance Plan. The firm, which has a presence in 20 countries and more than 3,000 employees in Latin America, has already dismissed 400 people, mainly in Brazil, Uruguay and Colombia. Despegar had bought two firms in the sector: at the end of January it acquired BestDay for $136 million, and in April 2019 it purchased Viajes Falabella for a total of $27 million. Shares in February were trading at around $15.2, but fell to $5.2 and are currently at $6.2.
Vlocity, a leading provider of industry-specific cloud software, announced a successful digital transformation program with Telecom Argentina that simplified Telecom Argentina’s systems and processes after multiple acquisitions, while upgrading the customer experience for nearly 30 million subscribers.
Echo Energy PLC has told investors it is adapting its production operation in Argentina to focus on gas, and, at the same time, it is taking steps to cut costs. The moves come amidst the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and weak oil prices, with an expectation of higher gas prices as the southern hemisphere moves into the autumn and winter.
Swiss agribusiness firm Glencore offered Argentina’s Vicentin $325 million for its minority stake in the biodiesel production firm Renova. This operation would be a way out of the complicated economic situation Vicentin is going through. Today, it has two plants for grain processing stopped while the bankruptcy proceedings are progressing after accumulating debts of more than $1.5 billion.
Pan American Silver announced that it is temporarily suspending its operations in Argentina, including the Manantial Espejo mine, in order to comply with a mandatory national quarantine in response to Covid-19. The company is also suspending supply deliveries and personnel transport at its San Vicente operations in Bolivia to comply with a mandatory national quarantine.
