Brazil

Inflation smashed through the top of the central bank’s tolerance range in Brazil and accelerated much more than expected in Chile as surging energy costs give policymakers another reason to worry, Bloomberg News reported. Official data released Friday showed Brazil’s consumer prices rose 4.76% in October from the year prior, above the 4.5% tolerance ceiling of the central bank’s goal. Chile’s cost of living posted the biggest monthly rise since March of last year as annual inflation sped up to 4.7%.

Julius Baer Group Ltd. hired Goldman Sachs to seek buyers for its Brazilian unit, according to people familiar to the matter, a move that could help the Swiss bank right its footing after some high-profile setbacks, Bloomberg News reported. The unit has already been offered to some Brazilian banks and multifamily offices, the people said, asking not to be identified because the talks are private. Talks are ongoing and may not end up in a deal, the people said. Goldman Sachs and Julius Baer declined to comment.

Brazilian airline Gol said on Wednesday it has signed a deal with shareholder Abra to reinforce its current restructuring plan and raise credit to exit bankruptcy, including the conversion of $950 million in Abra's secured debt into Gol shares, Reuters reported. Abra is the main investor in airlines Gol and Avianca. The agreement is related to Gol's chapter 11 request, filed in January. According to the filing, Gol will present a restructuring plan that will allow a significant reduction of its leverage.

Azul SA’s credit score was cut one notch by S&P Global Ratings, which called the airline’s agreement with bondholders for additional financing a distressed transaction, Bloomberg News reported. S&P downgraded the Brazilian carrier to CC from CCC+ with a negative outlook, according to a statement released Wednesday. Azul inked a deal with its creditors this week for as much as $500 million in new senior secured debt, with $150 million to be provided initially and $250 million by the end of the year.

Brazil's net imports of crypto assets in the nine months through September 2024 increased by 60.7% over the same period last year, already exceeding the full-year total for 2023, central bank data showed on Tuesday, Reuters reported. The surge in Brazil's crypto market, the world's tenth-largest according to blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis, was fueled by a significant increase in so-called stablecoins - which are pegged to real-world assets like the U.S. dollar.

Azul SA’s shares jumped after the Brazilian airline inked an agreement with its bondholders, allowing a crucial deal to move forward with its lessors and parts suppliers that reduces the airline’s debt and boosts its cash position, Bloomberg News reported. The deal allows for existing creditors to provide as much as $500 million in new senior secured debt, with $150 million to be provided this week and $250 million by the end of the year, according to a regulatory filing Monday. Another $100 million could be unlocked at a later date, Azul said.

Brazil's federal government on Friday reached a multibillion-dollar settlement with the mining companies responsible for a 2015 dam collapse that the government said was the country's worst-ever environmental disaster, the Associated Press reported. Under the agreement, Samarco — a joint venture of Brazilian mining giant Vale and Anglo-Australian firm BHP — will pay 132 billion reais ($23 billion) over 20 years.

Inflation in Brazil accelerated in the month to mid-October, as higher electricity costs pushed consumer prices up in Latin America's largest economy, Reuters reported. Prices as measured by the IPCA-15 index rose 0.54% in the month to mid-October, up from 0.13% in the previous month, government statistics agency IBGE said on Thursday. In the 12 months to mid-October, inflation stood at 4.47%, up from the 4.12% seen the month before and above the 4.43% forecast by economists. The main impact on inflation in the month to mid-October came from residential electricity prices, which rose 5.29%.

Brazilian airline Azul is in talks with multiple parties to raise about $400 million in fresh capital via debt financing and an agreement may come as soon as this week, three sources close to the discussions told Reuters. Azul dominates Brazil's airline industry along with LATAM and Gol. It managed to avoid chapter 11 even as a number of Latin American carriers filed for bankruptcy after the COVID-19 pandemic, including its two main rivals.