PROSPECTS FOR BRAZILIAN INVESTMENT AMID CRISIS

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 SAO PAULO 000522 SIPDIS STATE PASS USTR FOR KDUCKWORTH STATE PASS EXIMBANK STATE PASS OPIC FOR DMORONSE, NRIVERA, CMERVENNE DEPT OF TREASURY FOR JHOEK, BONEILL E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: ECON EFIN EINV ETRD BR SUBJECT: PROSPECTS FOR BRAZILIAN INVESTMENT AMID CRISIS REF: A. Sao Paulo 0486; B. Rio de Janeiro 0159 ¶1. (U) Summary: Prominent Investment magazine Latin Finance hosted its 6th Annual Brazil Investment Forum in Sao Paulo on September 18. While the original intent of the conference was to explore financing growth and investment in Brazil, taking advantage of Brazil's out-performance of its emerging market peers, the U.S. subprime crisis and collapse of Lehman Brothers on September 15 redirected attention to the impacts of the current financial crisis on the Brazilian economy (Ref A). With robust economic growth in 2007 and record foreign direct investment, attendees generally agreed that Brazil had strong economic fundamentals with which to anchor its economy. The Brazilian Development Bank (BNDES) said investment grew in all sectors, with retained earnings and BNDES loans as the two largest financing sources. Representatives from large Brazilian companies told the audience that their balance sheets were strong and had no plans to alter investment plans over the next few years. Several commentators noted, however, that smaller firms would face higher capital costs as a result of less international credit. Many pointed to consolidation and acquisitions as many companies would be unable to finance their operations at higher costs as one of the biggest consequences of the crisis. Although private equity would now face fewer competitors, industry analysts suggested many Brazilian family-owned companies were unprepared to work with private equity funds. Overall the mood of conference participants was of cautious optimism, stating that Brazil was well prepared to confront the external crisis, but with careful attention to worldwide events and conditions. End Summary. Investment in 2007 -------------- ¶2. (U) The Brazilian Development Bank (BNDES) is the largest Brazilian credit bank, disbursing 17 percent of total credit in Brazil in 2007. About 40 percent of BNDES disbursements were for infrastructure projects, 30 percent for private-sector manufacturing and industrial projects, eight percent to agriculture, and 10 percent for exports. Between January and July of this year, BNDES approved R$ 28 billion more than it disbursed (approximately 14.74 billion USD using 1.9 Reais/dollar). Ernani Torres Filho, Superintendent of Economic Research for BNDES outlined Brazil's investment performance in recent years. Investment has grown faster than GDP in the last 13 quarters in a row. BNDES estimated that investment would reach 19.7 percent of GDP in 2009 and 21 percent by ¶2010. (Note: This still lags significantly behind the other BRIC economies where investment in infrastructure is considerably higher: Russia (21 percent),India (34.6 percent),and China (40.4 percent). End Note.) Through 2011, the manufacturing sector would receive the most investment, about R$ 627.1 billion, followed by housing with R$ 534.9 billion and infrastructure with R$ 304.6 billion. Torres noted that although investments would be concentrated in the oil and gas and mining sectors, all sectors are growing fast. Shipyards would have the greatest growth increase, by about 68 percent between 2008 and 2011. Infrastructure growth in electricity is expected to be 18.7 percent and 45 percent in ports development and expansion. According to a BNDES' study, companies' retained earnings and BNDES loans are the two largest financing sources; however, Torres noted that the private sector was necessary because public funds and retained earnings are not enough to fund Brazilian companies' investment plans. Big Business Feeling No Pain -------------- ¶3. (U) In a panel on the opportunities in Brazil, representatives from the large multinational corporations in Brazil generally thought that Brazil would fare well against the U.S. financial system crisis and explained that the large Brazilian conglomerates were well capitalized and would not initially feel the pinch of the worldwide credit crunch. As a result, they expected some consolidation among the smaller firms as credit access grew scarce. Jose Olympio Pereira, Managing Director and Head of Investment Banking for Credit Suisse said that this was the first external crisis that Brazil had faced in recent years, but that Brazil was resilient due to the virtuous investment cycle and less dependence on foreign debt. He thought that credit would be tight and the question would be how Brazil would finance its growth. He explained SAO PAULO 00000522 002 OF 004 Bovespa's decline as a pull-out by foreign investors (nearly 70 percent of the total),many of whom are selling off their investments due to cashflow problems. He underscored that Brazilian companies are healthy and that long-term horizon investors would continue to invest in Brazil. He also pointed to infrastructure, electricity generation, and real estate as positive sectors for investment. ¶4. (U) Despite the external scenario, Luis Felipe Schiriak, CFO of Votorantim (family owned, multinational corporation with 50,000 employees conducting business in the industrial, financial, and information technology areas among others) said the company had not altered any of its planned investments. He noted that Votorantim's business calculations were in flux, but that the Brazilian internal market was growing so fast that it continued to experience supply shortages. Schiriak said that Votorantim had prepared an international bond issue but lacked the market. Aymar Giglio Jr., Treasury and Finance Director of Supermarket Chain Pao de Acucar, said that the company expects strong medium and long-term growth, but will be more cautious over the short-term. He explained that Pao de Acucar had all of its funding needs met until 2011. ¶5. (U) Luis Largman, CFO of Cyrela Brazil Realty was optimistic about the Brazilian real estate sector. Cyrela is fairly well insulated and has enough money to fund five years of construction at competitive rates, but would need to be more conservative. He said that demand for housing would continue despite the external crisis. Largman underscored that housing is relatively more affordable in Brazil; he said the average home in Brazil costs two to three annual salaries, while in London it is approximately 50 salaries. Pereira added that Credit Suisse had already identified some consolidation in the real estate sector because the cost of capital for larger firms is half that of small and medium size Brazilian companies. ¶6. (U) Francisco Gros from OGX Petroleo and Gas was somewhat less optimistic despite OGX's IPO that captured USD 4.16 billion in June (Ref B). He noted that while for many Brazilian firms it was business as usual, companies have no map from which to make predictions about the future business climate. He reminded the audience that Brazil had paid the price of complacency in the 1970s, only later paying the price. Despite his uncertainty, he believes the floor for oil prices is about USD 90 given the escalation of production costs and relative demand. He noted that the pre-salt reserves have an estimated USD 30 to 40 per barrel cost in the best case scenario. (Note: The Federation of Industries of Sao Paulo Director Thomas Zanotto noted in a recent meeting that the cost was closer to USD 70 to 80 a barrel. End Note.) He similarly believed other commodity prices would stabilize given Chinese and Indian demand and the logistics bottlenecks of expanding the supply of various commodities. ¶7. (U) Wilson Ferreira Jr. the CEO of CPFL Energy believed that the Brazilian energy sector would muddle through the crisis. Despite the critical shortage of electricity infrastructure, a slower economy would help alleviate demand. He noted that the infrastructure gap was partly due to a lack of regulation and institutions to encourage investment. CPFL estimated that the Brazilian economy needed R$ 87 billion in infrastructure, but only received R$ 52 billion. Of that, last year Brazil made only 60 percent of the needed transportation investments, 75 percent in electricity, 92 percent for oil and gas, and 96 percent for telecommunications infrastructure. He pointed to proper regulation and positive investment climate within telecomm as an explanation for why that sector nearly met its infrastructure investment needs last year. ¶8. (U) Carlos Camargo, Aerospace Giant Embraer's Head of Capital Markets and Investor Relations said that Embraer has a very robust cash position which should not require them to change any investments. Similarly, he did not foresee credit tightening as a problem for Embraer's clients in the near-term because they lock in financing 24 months prior to the delivery date. He added that 70 percent of 2009 deliveries have already been financed, but that clients could find it more difficult for 2010 financing. Despite the recent events, Camargo boasted that Embraer continued to sign new contracts and suggested that Embraer's high net worth client base was removed from the crisis. SAO PAULO 00000522 003 OF 004 Financing Alternatives -------------- ¶9. (U) While Brazil's capital markets have grown more sophisticated, several commentators said that Brazilian small and medium firms would face a liquidity crunch, which would eventually lead to a more "lean and mean" Brazilian economy. Henrique Teixeira Alvares, founding partner at NEO Investimentos, said that Brazilian companies that had done their homework would have access to the limited international credit. He said creditors would be looking for efficiently-run companies to put their money. Frederico Flossbach, the Deputy Director of the Andean Development Corporation (CAF) told the audience that the CAF also finances itself from international capital markets, but should be in a good position to capture the limited financing. Indeed, the head of Investor Relations for Localiza Silvio Guerra posited that the crisis created opportunities for companies that are able to finance themselves to buy out competitors struggling to get access to financing. Alvares suggested that companies willing to absorb the higher borrowing costs would have ample available financing. ¶10. (U) Francisco Gros pointed out that Brazil would be competing with hundreds of solid companies available at liquidation prices, which could undermine FDI flows as investors opt to acquire existing companies rather than new investments. Flossbach argued that the Brazilian Central Bank would keep interest rates high to avoid capital flight, which could slow Brazilian economic growth in 2009. Guerra suggested that the Middle East and Asia could replace the U.S. and E.U. as important liquidity sources. Claudio Ramos from KPMG's Financial Advisory Services commented that the crisis has all but eliminated possible funding for IPOs, given that nearly 70 percent of investors were from the U.S. and the E.U. He noted, however, that companies that completed successful IPOs last year would be in a better position to acquire others. Ramos posited that we would see buy-outs of companies listed on Bovespa, noting that it would a difficult environment to defend against takeovers. The Losers - Small and Medium Size Firms -------------- ¶11. (U) In a frank side discussion about the recent events, several participants expressed concern to Econoff about small and medium size banks in particular. Fernando Meibak from Sunrise Investments and Claudio Goncalves from Plurimax Asset Management, both based in Sao Paulo, said that many smaller banks had financed auto loans at fixed rates without the deposits to back them up, and instead expected falling interest rates and had relied on short-term financing. They also suggested that the agriculture sector was in bad financial shape. Fernanda Dezotti, Planning Manager for Clean Energy Brazil told Econoff that many ethanol mills had maxed out on debt to expand and were now hoping that foreign investors would bail them out. Private Finance to the Rescue? -------------- ¶12. (U) The credit tightening and stock market decline worldwide has opened the door for private equity in Brazil, according to several conference participants. Joao Marcelo Eboli from CPR Companhia de Participacoes explained that private equity funds would be looking for companies with high-quality leadership and that industrial firms would be a natural first choice. Ramos agreed that private equity would most likely seek out sectors more closely tied to internal demand and infrastructure. Despite this opening, Nicolas Wollack, CEO of Axxon Group affirmed that many Brazilian companies were ill-prepared for private equity, lacking a level of professionalism and understanding about the different role that a private equity partnership implied for a company's decision making. Marcelo Xando Baptista from Verax Financial Services commented that while family companies had used IPOs as a financing tool, private equity would impose technology and culture that many family companies were not ready to accept. He further commented that private equity was easier to incorporate into a business model in good times and would be more difficult now. Comment SAO PAULO 00000522 004 OF 004 -------------- ¶13. Brazil's economy is strong, perhaps in the best position in years to defend itself against the U.S. crisis. In fact, while many emerging markets suffered after the first signs of the U.S. subprime crisis emerged last August, Brazil continued to out-perform. Despite the U.S. economic downturn, Brazil forged ahead by becoming a net external creditor in February, and then achieving recognition as an investment grade sovereign in April. The decline of foreign capital in Brazil is more about investors pulling money out of Brazil to have liquidity in the U.S. Even with a strong economy, however, Brazilian authorities will need to remain vigilant and take steps to counter the slowing of investment inflows. Some mergers and acquisitions could strengthen the Brazilian economy and make it more efficient, but eventually reforms would be needed to make Brazil more competitive. End Comment. ¶14. (U) This cable has been cleared/coordinated with Embassy Brasilia. WHITE