The Panamanian attorney general’s office will ask a judge to order Odebrecht to pay fines due in 2019 and 2020 after the corruption-ensnared Brazilian conglomerate failed to pay. Panamanian authorities fined Odebrecht in 2017 for paying bribes in exchange for construction contracts in the Central American country. The company owes more than $35.5 million, a judicial source at the attorney general’s office said.
Source: Reuters
Category: Business
Information regarding the business sector
Trade turnover drops 6.3% in December, says ACSP
December 2020 Sales Balance, made by ACSP (São Paulo Trade Association), indicates that there was a negative variation of 6.3% in retail activities compared to the same period in 2019. The association expected the retail economy to recover from the losses caused by the pandemic with purchases for Christmas, which did not occur. On the other hand, an average growth of 18.4% in sales was observed compared to November.
Source: R7
Maersk projects 20% growth in Brazil by 2021
Maersk expects to grow about 20% in revenues in Brazil this year, due to the plan to expand logistics services in the country. The company released a report, which forecasts growth of 3.5% in exports and 7% in imports this year, without detailing sales figures.
Source: Agencia Estado
With 2 million of new micro-entrepreneurs MEIs breaks record in the country
According to data from the Entrepreneur’s Portal, approximately two million users became individual micro-entrepreneurs (MEIs) at the end of last year. The number is the highest ever recorded since 2009, when the law regulating the category came into effect. As a result, the country reached a total of 11.3 million active MEIs, 20% more than at the end of 2019, when the segment had 9.4 million registrations.
Source: Contabeis
MadeiraMadeira receives $190mn and becomes new Brazilian “unicorn”
The website for the sale of articles for the MadeiraMadeira home announced that it received a contribution of $190 million led by SoftBank and Dynamo, becoming a “unicorn”, startup valued at $1 billion or more. The company’s executive said that sales made through the platform grew by 120% in 2020, compared to an 80% expansion a year earlier.
Source: Money Times
Petrobras sells 49% of wind farms for $16mn
Petrobras has signed a contract to sell its 49 percent stake in Mangue Seco 3 and 4 wind farms, for R$89.9 million ($16 mm), with V2I Transmissão de Energia Elétrica, the oil company said in a statement to the market.
Source: UOL Economia
Central Bank loses $13.6bn in foreign exchange transactions
The Central Bank closed the second half of 2020 with a loss of R$ 70.826 billion ($13.6 bn) in its foreign exchange operations. This amount will be covered by the so-called “foreign exchange income reserve”, created in 2019. This dynamic is part of the new relationship established between the Central Bank and the National Treasury, through Law 13.820.
Source: UOL
MRV concludes sale of venture in US for $57 mm
MRV reported that it completed the sale of the Deering Groves development in Miami with a general sale value (GV) of $57 million. The asset is expected to generate cash of $21 million, based on projected operating profit after 12 months of stabilisation. This is the first sale of a venture of MRV’s US subsidiary, AHS Residential.
Source: UOL Economia
Dealers expect 16% increase in vehicle sales by 2021
Vehicle distributors in Brazil expect a 16% growth in sales this year, after registering the highest monthly licensing volume of 2020 in December, according to Fenabrave data. The entity’s projection for sales of new cars and light commercials this year is up 15.8%. For roads the forecast is for expansion of 21.7%, for buses the projection is for growth of 8.2%.
Source: Folha
MG should have investments of $2.5 bn in transmission, says EPE
With the high attractiveness for the implementation of photovoltaic plant projects in the northern region of the state of Minas Gerais, EPE recommends that R$ 13.3 billion ($2.5 bn) be invested in transmission by 2031 to expand the energy flow capacity of the National Interconnected System (SIN) from the northern part of Minas Gerais to the main load centres in the southeast region.
Source: Energia Hoje
