By Nathan Gill and Jose Orozco June 28 (Bloomberg) — Honduran President Manuel Zelaya was ousted by the military today after his opponents accused him of ignoring court rulings and seeking to change the constitution through a referendum to hold onto power. Zelaya, an ally of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, was seized by… Read More Honduran President Manuel Zelaya Is Ousted in Coup by Military
By Nathan Gill June 28 (Bloomberg) — Honduras Foreign Minister Patricia Rodas was seized today by masked soldiers and is being held, Venezuela Abassador Armando Laguna said in comments broadcast on Telesur. Laguna and the ambassadors of Nicaragua and Cuba in Honduras were briefly detained after trying to defend Rodas against masked… Read More Honduras Military Detains Ambassadors, Minister Rodas Seized
By James Attwood and Nathan Gill June 17 (Bloomberg) — Chile’s construction industry may bottom out next quarter as unemployment in the industry peaks at 21 percent, about double the national rate, according to the country’s Chamber of Construction. “In October we were falling without a parachute, and now we’re falling slowly,” Chairman… Read More Chile Construction May Be Near Bottom, Chamber Says
By Nathan Gill and Jason Gale June 11 (Bloomberg) — Leaders of six swine flu-infected countries have been briefed by the World Health Organization in preparation for a “probable change” in the agency’s level of pandemic alert, Chile’s health ministry said. Officials in Australia, Chile, Japan, Mexico, the U.K. and the U.S. were… Read More Swine Flu Nations Briefed in Preparation for WHO Pandemic Call
By Nathan Gill June 11 (Bloomberg) — The World Health Organization spoke with authorities in Australia, Chile, Japan, Mexico, the U.K. and the U.S. yesterday to prepare for a “probable change” in the agency’s pandemic alert scale to the highest level, Chile’s health ministry said. The WHO sought information on the clinical protocols… Read More WHO Met Global Public Health Officials on Flu Alert
By Nathan Gill June 10 (Bloomberg) — Swine flu cases in Chile, the country with the most infections outside North America, may continue to climb until early July, health officials said. Confirmed cases reached 1,694, from 890 on June 5, the Ministry of Health in Santiago said in an e-mailed statement yesterday. The… Read More Swine Flu Cases May Increase Until July, Chile Says
By Nathan Gill June 9 (Bloomberg) — Parque Arauco SA, a Chilean shopping-center developer and operator, climbed to its highest in a year in Santiago trading on speculation that its expansion plans will boost earnings growth. Parque Arauco rose 3.2 percent to 514 pesos, the highest closing price since May 28, 2008. The… Read More Chile’s Parque Arauco Rises to 1-Year High on Profit Outlook
By Nathan Gill June 2 (Bloomberg) — Thousands of Chilean public school teachers marched in the capital on the 16th day of a nationwide strike to press their demands for what they say are unpaid bonuses. More than 5,000 teachers traveled to Santiago for the protest, said Jaime Gajardo, president of the Chilean… Read More Chile Teachers March on Capital on 16th Day of Strike
By Nathan Gill and James Attwood June 1 (Bloomberg) — Empresas Copec SA, Chile’s biggest forestry company, rose to the highest in almost a year as first-quarter profit matched some analysts’ estimates and raw-material prices advanced. Copec climbed 1.4 percent to 7,190 pesos in Santiago trading, the highest since June 13. The… Read More Chile’s Copec Rises to One-Year High on Profit, Commodities
By Nathan Gill May 29 (Bloomberg) — La Polar SA, Chile’s best-performing retailer this year, fell in Santiago trading on speculation Omega SA’s merger offer undervalues the company’s department stores. The Santiago-based retailer slipped 0.9 percent to 1,927.9 pesos. The shares surged 15 percent yesterday for the biggest gain in seven months. … Read More Chile’s La Polar Falls on Speculation Omega Undervalues Stock
By Nathan Gill May 29 (Bloomberg) — Ripley Corp SA rose to the highest in more than 11 months on speculation the Chilean retailer will integrate its department-store chain with Grupo Saieh’s supermarkets after Saieh bought a 20 percent stake in the company this month. Ripley climbed 5.8 percent to 418 pesos in… Read More Chile Department Store Ripley Rises to 11-Month High on Merger Speculation
By Nathan Gill May 26 (Bloomberg) — Chile’s health ministry confirmed 21 new cases of swine flu today, giving the country a total of 107, the health ministry said. Nineteen of the new cases resulted from “community transmission” in four different regions, Osvaldo Sagrado, an official in charge of health-care networks at the… Read More Chile Confirms 21 New Cases of Swine Flu, Now Has 107
By Sebastian Boyd and Nathan Gill May 21 (Bloomberg) — Chilean President Michelle Bachelet said managing the economic crisis is her top priority and emphasized her commitment to social welfare in a speech laying out her policies for the next 10 months. The government plans to pay a bonus of 40,000… Read More Bachelet Sets Chile’s Priorities as Economy, Welfare
By Sebastian Boyd and Nathan Gill May 19 (Bloomberg) — Chilean health officials confirmed five new cases of swine flu today, bringing the country’s total to 10, President Michelle Bachelet told reporters in Santiago. The confirmed cases include three women who traveled from the Dominican Republic, and a further cluster of… Read More Chile Confirmed 10 Cases of Swine Flu, Bachelet Says
By Nathan Gill and James Attwood May 18 (Bloomberg) — Chile confirmed three new cases of swine flu, bringing the number of people known to be infected to in the country to five, health officials said today in Santiago. A 6-year-old child is receiving treatment at home and his Santiago school… Read More Swine Flu Sickens 3 More in Chile, Including Children
By Nathan Gill and Sebastian Boyd May 17 (Bloomberg) — Two female tourists returning from the Dominican Republic became Chile’s first confirmed cases of swine flu, Health Minister Alvaro Erazo told reporters today in Santiago. They arrived in Chile yesterday on Copa Airlines Flight 437 from the beach resort of Punta… Read More Chile Reports First Swine-Flu Victims, Minister Says
By Nathan Gill May 14 (Bloomberg) — Paulo de Sousa Oliveira Jr., chief business development officer of BM&FBovespa SA, Latin America’s largest exchange, comments on plans to integrate with Chile’s stock exchanges. Oliveira spoke in Spanish to reporters in Santiago today. On plans to integrate with Chile’s exchanges: “The idea we… Read More BM&FBovespa Proceeding With Chile Trading Plans, Oliveira Says
By Matthew Craze and Nathan Gill May 13 (Bloomberg) — Empresa Nacional del Petroleo, Chile’s state-controlled oil and gas company, said the start-up of a liquefied natural-gas plant will help the company’s refinery business return to profitability. The Quintero LNG plant will reduce power costs at the company’s Aconcagua refinery by… Read More Enap Says Chile Quintero Plant to Help Profitability
By Nathan Gill May 13 (Bloomberg) — Ripley Corp SA, a Chilean department-store operator, fell the most in more than five months on speculation a government proposal to create a national credit database will hurt retailers’ profits from credit card sales. The Santiago-based retailer dropped 4.5 percent to 360 pesos in… Read More Ripley Falls Most in 5 Months on Fear Database to Hurt Profit
By Nathan Gill and James Attwood May 7 (Bloomberg) — Lan Airlines SA, Chile’s biggest air carrier, is interested in forming an alliance with a partner “north of Ecuador,” Chief Executive Officer Enrique Cueto said. Lan hasn’t reached any agreements and is looking for new markets to expand its cargo and passenger business, Cueto told… Read More Chile’s Lan Seeks Airline Partner, Traffic Expansion
By Nathan Gill and James Attwood May 7 (Bloomberg) — SACI Falabella SA, Chile’s biggest retailer by market value, plans to invest $2 billion through 2012 to expand in Latin America, Chief Executive Officer Juan Benavides said. Falabella is seeking opportunities in Colombia while its “very big” investment plans for Peru will depend on how… Read More Falabella Plans to Invest $2 Billion Through 2012
By Nathan Gill and James Attwood May 5 (Bloomberg) — Bank lending in Chile may increase by 2 percent this year after the economy probably “touched bottom” in the first quarter, said Hernan Somerville, president of the country’s banking association. Chile’s economy may recover in the coming months, ending the year little changed from last… Read More Chile Lending May Rise 2%, Bank Association Says
By Nathan Gill April 30 (Bloomberg) — Empresa Nacional de Electricidad SA, Chile’s biggest power generator, said it plans to invest about $1 billion this year to expand capacity. The Santiago-based company known as Endesa will invest in wind farms, a natural gas plant and a coal steam plant, adding 680 megawatts of capacity, Chief… Read More Chile’s Endesa Plans to Invest $1 Billion in 2009
By Nathan Gill and James Attwood April 29 (Bloomberg) — Empresa Nacional de Electricidad SA, Chile’s biggest power generator, said first-quarter profit more than doubled as revenue rose in Chile. Net income rose to 166 billion pesos ($283 million) from 68.4 billion pesos a year earlier, the Santiago-based company said today in an e-mailed statement.… Read More Endesa Chile First-Quarter Profit More Than Doubles
By Nathan Gill April 28 (Bloomberg) — Lan Airlines SA, Chile’s biggest carrier, reported a 35 percent drop in first quarter profit after losing $57.9 million from wrong way bets on fuel prices. Net income slipped to $65 million from $99.6 million a year earlier, the carrier said in an e-mailed statement today. The airline reported… Read More Lan Airlines Profit Falls 35% on Fuel-Hedging Loss
By Nathan Gill April 28 (Bloomberg) — Chilean health authorities are investigating 24 possible cases of swine flu, according to a statement posted on the health ministry’s Web site. Five suspected cases have been ruled out while no cases have been confirmed in the country, Alvaro Erazo, Chile’s Minister of Health told reporters today.
By Nathan Gill and James AttwoodApril 27 (Bloomberg) — Sebastian Pinera, the presidential candidate for the Alliance for Chile coalition, said he’s taking advice on how to sell his stake in Lan Airlines SA and placed shares of other companies he owns in a blind trust. Pinera, who lost the last presidential election in 2005… Read More Chile’s Pinera Transfers Assets, Seeks Advice on Lan Airlines
By Nathan Gill and Sebastian Boyd April 16 (Bloomberg) — Chilean police used teargas and water cannons to break up demonstrations in Santiago as unions called a national strike to protest layoffs and demand higher taxes on the rich. About 12,000 people marched today in support of the strike, according to Radio Cooperativa. Chile job… Read More Chile Police Use Teargas to Break Up Strike Protests
By Nathan Gill and James Attwood April 16 (Bloomberg) — Farmacias Ahumada SA, Chile’s second-biggest drugstore chain known as Fasa, will reimburse customers hit by inflated medicine prices. Fasa plans to return 2.5 billion pesos ($4.3 million) through refunds or credit for new purchases, Alejandro Rosemblatt, the company’s chief executive, told reporters in Santiago today.… Read More Chile’s Pharmacy Fasa to Reimburse Customers for Inflating Drug Prices
By Nathan Gill and James Attwood April 14 (Bloomberg) — Cia. Sudamericana de Vapores SA, Latin America’s largest container ship company, rose the most in six years in Santiago after saying it’s in talks to raise $750 million to turn around unprofitable shipping operations. The Valparaiso, Chile-based company plans to sell about $350 million in… Read More Chile’s Vapores Rises Most in Six Years on Financing Talks
By Nathan Gill and James AttwoodApril 8 (Bloomberg) — Sebastian Pinera, the presidential candidate for the Alliance for Chile coalition, said he plans to begin handing over control of his stock holdings before this year’s elections. “In April I’m going to transfer voluntarily the administration of all investments in public companies to Chilean financial institutions,”… Read More Chile’s Pinera to Transfer Stock Holdings This Month
By Nathan Gill April 7 (Bloomberg) — Tenaris SA, the world’s biggest maker of seamless steel tubes for oil and gas pipelines, dropped the most in a week as the price of crude fell for a third day. Tenaris declined 4.5 percent to 40.45 pesos in Argentine trading, the steepest fall since March 30. “There… Read More Tenaris Falls Most in a Week as Oil Prices Decline
By Nathan Gill April 2 (Bloomberg) — Cia. Sudamericana de Vapores SA’s long-term credit rating was cut three levels by Standard & Poor’s, which cited the outlook in container shipping markets and the company’s “weak” liquidity. S&P lowered Latin America’s largest container ship company’s credit rating to B- from BB-, according to a statement on… Read More Chile’s Vapores Rating Cut to B- From BB- by S&P on Shipping Outlook
