Brazil is sketching out a plan to provide mid-sized companies with better access to the country’s capital markets, part of an effort by President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva to bolster growth, Bloomberg News reported. The goal is to make it easier for companies to tap debt or equity markets, according to Marcos Pinto, secretary for economic reforms. The ideas, which are still being hashed out, include lowering fees associated with issuances and simplifying audit requirements, he said in an interview.
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Argentina's economic activity likely fell in June versus the same month a year earlier, analysts said, back in the red after a rare rise the month before amid tough austerity measures and cost-cutting under libertarian President Javier Milei, Reuters reported. The median forecast from 16 analysts sees economic activity down 1.9% year-on-year in the sixth month of the year, dropping back from May's 2.3% rise, as growth in the grains and gas sectors is weighed down by weak consumption and construction.
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Chile’s economy contracted on a quarterly basis for the first time in a year, marking a significant downturn that bolsters the case for a resumption of interest rate cuts, Bloomberg News reported. Gross domestic product fell 0.6% in the second quarter from the prior three months, in line with the median forecast of analysts in a Bloomberg survey. From a year ago, it expanded 1.6%, the central bank reported on Monday. Chilean policymakers paused their easing cycle last month as they weighed near-term inflationary pressures against a downturn in the economic recovery.
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Brazilian airlines, already struggling with high interest rates and volatile fuel costs, are being hit with more losses as currency woes and climate challenges test the sector’s operational resilience, Bloomberg News reported. Azul SA and Gol Linhas Aereas Inteligentes SA, two of the nation’s largest carriers, reported setbacks in the second quarter as a weakening Brazilian real and the closing of a key airport following torrential rains in country’s south dragged their earnings, quarterly reports showed this week.
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Troubled Chilean salmon-farming company Nova Austral appears to have been given the go-ahead to continue with its reorganization, Fish Farmer Magazine reported. Following a new appeal by the company and other organizations, a court in the south of the country has permanently reversed a bankruptcy order. A temporary appeal was allowed in May. This means a long running saga, and a series of delays which saw the business come close to being wound up or sold, should at last be over.

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The owner of the beauty brand Avon in the U.K., Europe and Latin America has filed for bankruptcy as it tries to off-load more than $1bn of debt, including millions of dollars in liabilities linked to lawsuits alleging that talc in its products caused cancer, The Guardian reported. Avon Products Inc., a subsidiary of Brazil’s Natura, which bought Avon’s non-North American trading businesses in 2020, has filed for chapter 11, the American version of administration. API said that the process would allow it to address its debt obligations in an “orderly manner”.

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Natura &Co posted strong Q2 2024 earnings, but Avon's chapter 11 filing added challenges and a significant net loss, Finimize reported. Natura &Co surprised the market with better-than-expected core earnings for Q2 2024. The beauty giant reported net revenue of 7.35 billion reais ($1.34 billion), a 5.4% rise from last year, beating forecasted revenue of 6.78 billion reais. Adjusted EBITDA also climbed 14.2% to 803.5 million reais, surpassing the expected 763.8 million reais. Success in Brazil and Mexico drove this performance, as highlighted by the CEO.

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