Votorantim has profits above US$ 454.5 million in the quarter
Valor Econômico - 04/30/2009
The Votorantim group, which ended last year with net profits of only R$ 14.2 million (US$ 7.76 million), reduced because of the losses of R$ 2.046 billion (US$ 1.12 billion) with financial operations with derivatives and the impact of the sudden foreign exchange variation, evaluates that the performance of the conglomerate in 2009 is already quite different. The Managing Officer of Votorantim Industrial, Raul Calfat, affirms the measures of adjustment taken since the beginning of the economic crisis, besides the stability of the foreign exchange in the first three months of this year, have already allowed the group to have a result he considers very satisfactory. The net profit exceeded R$ 1 billion (US$ 454.5 million), he said, without disclosing the exact amount.
Since the beginning of 2009, the group went through the restructuring of some of its business. It sold 49.9% of Banco Votorantim to Banco do Brasil and its interest in CPFL Energia. At the same time, it acquired the majority share control of Aracruz Celulose. The executive emphasized that "the decisions for those adjustments were quick, due to the management model". The investments for the year have also gone through a review due to the new post crisis scenario. After investing R$ 7.7 billion (US$ 4.2 billion) in 2008, 64% more than in the previous year, Votorantim foresees investing R$ 5 billion (US$ 2.27 billion) in 2009. The original figure amounted to R$ 7.5 billion (US$ 3.41 billion). "We decided to give priority to projects that gather three factors: advanced stage of implementation, guaranteed demand and fast value generation", affirmed Calfat.