Chile

A group of Latam Airlines Group SA shareholders raised $456 million in an initial public offering of American depositary shares, Bloomberg News reported. The shareholders in the Santiago-based airline sold 19 million ADS on Tuesday for $24 each, according to a statement. Each ADS represents 2,000 of Latam’s common shares, which trade on the Chilean Stock Exchange. The sellers are Sixth Street Partners, Strategic Value Partners, Olympus Peak, Monarch Funds, Värde Funds and Marathon Fund, the statement shows.

Investors in Chile are bracing for a rare flood of commercial buildings to hit the market as two of the nation’s largest real estate investment funds near liquidation, Bloomberg News reported. Real estate portfolios worth $552 million held in funds managed by heavyweights Toesca SA and Banchile Inversiones could soon go on sale due to recent shareholder votes. That’s raising fears of a looming vicious cycle in Chile. Low prices prompted investors to give up and liquidate real estate investments, but the upcoming sudden supply of buildings could push prices down even further.

Chile’s economic activity fell for the second straight month on declines in mining and commerce, adding to evidence that the jump in growth at the start of the year was short-lived, Bloomberg News reported. The Imacec index, a proxy for gross domestic product, fell 0.3% in April from the prior month, less than the -0.6% median forecast in a Bloomberg survey. From a year ago, activity gained 3.5%, the central bank reported on Monday. Chile’s economy is slowing down this quarter after gross domestic product jumped by the most since 2021 at the start of the year.

Chile’s economy recorded the fastest quarterly growth since 2021, when government stimulus fueled domestic demand during the pandemic, as both mining output and consumption increased while slowing inflation and falling interest rates provided much-needed relief, Bloomberg News reported. Gross domestic product rose 1.9% in the first quarter compared with the prior three months, a tad less than the 2% median forecast from analysts in a Bloomberg survey. From a year ago, the economy expanded 2.3%, the central bank reported on Monday.

Chile’s consumer prices rose more than forecast last month, underscoring the central bank’s caution over further interest rate cuts after it spearheaded reductions in Latin American over the past year, Bloomberg News reported. Prices increased 0.5% from March, above the 0.4% median estimate from analysts in a Bloomberg survey. The annual inflation rate rose to 4% from 3.7% in the chained series, the national statistics institute reported Wednesday.

Chile's central bank said in a report on Tuesday that the economy is broadly recovering, though some sectors have lagged and financial market depth has not yet returned to levels seen before the coronavirus pandemic, Reuters reported. The bank pointed to the South American country's commercial, construction and real estate sectors as having fallen behind, which it said had elevated the possibility of defaults. "The external scenario continues to be the main source of risks for local financial stability," according to the bank.

Seventeen months after exiting bankruptcy proceedings, Santiago-based Latam Airlines Group SA is feeling confident enough with its finances to seek new transactions and declare itself “open to opportunities,” according to its top executive, Bloomberg News reported. “The pandemic and the Chapter 11 process was very hard for Latam and for its shareholders that lost everything, but they allowed us to resurface as a group that is financially much stronger than before the pandemic,” Chief Executive Officer Roberto Alvo told Bloomberg News in Santiago.

LATAM Airlines, opens new tab said on Wednesday its board gave approval to begin the process of re-listing American Depositary Receipts (ADRs) on the New York Stock Exchange, Reuters reported. In a filing to Chile's stock exchange, the company said the process involves meeting various requirements from the NYSE and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and could take up to six months. The Santiago-based carrier traded ADRs, which foreign companies use to list their shares on U.S. stock exchanges, on the NYSE before declaring bankruptcy in 2020.

Chilean port workers staged protests on Thursday, disrupting the loading and unloading of ships in one of the biggest exporters of raw materials from copper and lithium to pulp and fruit, Bloomberg News reported. A planned 24-hour strike by members of the UPC and FTPC umbrella unions began around 8 a.m. local time. The Ventanas port confirmed activities undertaken by union members are suspended. Television images showed workers blocking roads near the biggest port of Valparaiso. Local media reported protests by stevedores in the town of Talcahuano.

Chile’s central bank slowed the pace of interest rate cuts and left its options open for the size of future reductions, signaling caution in the face of inflation risks from stronger economic activity and a weaker peso, Bloomberg News reported. Policymakers cut their interest rate by three quarters of a percentage point to 6.5% on Tuesday, as expected by nearly all analysts in a Bloomberg survey. In a statement, they wrote borrowing costs will continue to fall, and that the easing cycle will consider the evolution of the economy and effects on inflation.