Brazil Boosts BNDES Lending Capacity by $20.7 Billion

April 30 (Bloomberg) -- Brazil’s state development bank will have an additional 36 billion reais ($20.7 billion) to lend under a plan announced by the Treasury today.
Brazil’s Treasury will exchange 1.3 billion reais of shares it owns in Centrais Eletricas Brasileiras SA, a state-controlled power utility, for shares in state-controlled Banco do Brasil SA owned by development bank known as BNDES, said Charles Guedes, a Treasury official. The Treasury will also transfer to the bank a credit of 2.7 billion reais owed to it by Eletrobras, as Latin America’s biggest utility is known.
The two measures will boost capital levels at the development bank, giving it more room to make loans. BNDES can include the Eletrobras shares as part of its capital, while rules didn’t allow shares in Banco do Brasil to be counted as capital.

Eletrobras May Swap $2.7 Billion of Debt for Shares

April 29 (Bloomberg) -- Centrais Eletricas Brasileiras SA, Latin America’s largest utility, is seeking to convert 4.7 billion reais ($2.7 billion) of liabilities to the Brazil’s government into shares, the finance chief said.

Brazil to pump more cash into Eletrobras

NEW YORK, April 6 (Reuters) - Brazil's government will replenish the capital base of Eletrobras, the country's largest power holding company, this year as part of a plan to boost transparency and lure investment into electricity, O Estado de S. Paulo said on Tuesday, citing Treasury Secretary Arno Augustin.

Under the program, Eletrobras would absorb previously autonomous regional units, Augustin told Estado. The company will start paying about $6 billion in dividends overdue for more than 30 years in June, a move seen by most analysts as an important step toward more transparent management.

The dividend issue 'put hurdles on any discussion over the Eletrobras capitalization, but that step has been cleared and the capitalization will take place this year,' Augustin said in the interview.

Brazil Eletrobras proposes equal shareholder dividend

RIO DE JANEIRO, March 31 (Reuters) - Brazil's state-controlled electricity company Eletrobras on Wednesday proposed giving equal treatment to holders of common and preferred shares for its 2009 dividend payment in a move aimed at boosting transparency.
Eletrobras (ELET6.SA) has for years set aside the equivalent of 6 percent of shareholder equity to pay dividends for holders of its preferred stock.

It will now set aside an equivalent amount for dividends for common shares, which are mostly held by Brazil's government, helping Eletrobras trim tax debts, Eletrobras Finance Director Astrogildo Quental said in an interview.

Brazil's Eletrobras to invest $5.1 bln in 2010 | Reuters

UPDATE 1-Brazil's Eletrobras to invest $5.1 bln in 2010

SAO PAULO, March 15 (Reuters) - Brazilian state-owned power utility Eletrobras (ELET6.SA) will boost investment by about two-thirds this year mainly for the some of the largest hydropower dam and electricity transmission projects in the nation, the company's chief executive said on Monday.

Eletrobras, Latin America's largest power holding utility, plans to increase investment to 9 billion reais ($5.1 billion) this year from 5.4 billion reais in 2009, CEO Jose Antonio Muniz said. Investments would total around 15 billion reais for 2011-2012, excluding new projects in which the company could take part, he added.

Itau Raises Target On Brazil's Eletrobras ADRs To $31.00 - WSJ.com

Itau Raises Target On Brazil's Eletrobras ADRs To $31.00

SAO PAULO (Dow Jones)--Itau Securities raised the level it considers fair value on shares of Brazil energy company Centrais Eletricas Brasileiras (EBR), or Eletrobras, for the year ending 2010, Itau said in a report Thursday.

The new target price for Eletrobras' American Depositary Receipts is $31 each and the new target for the local shares (ELET3.BR) was raised to 53.40 Brazilian reals ($30) from a previous fair value price of BRL41.50.

Itau cited provisional measure MP 466, which finally became law on Dec. 9 and provides new subsidies to the company's northern electric power operations, coupled with the recent BRL12 billion capitalization of Eletrobras' subsidiaries like Furnas and Chesf.

Another plus is continued talks between Eletrobras and the government for the payment of billions in back dividends from the 1970s.

'The company has been dishing out over a billion reals a year for many years to account for these back payments. Once these debts are paid, it clears the company from having to account for that money on its balance sheet and improves greatly Eletrobras' corporate governance,' said Eduardo Cancian, one of the report's authors.

Eletrobras alleged that it could not pay dividend payments decades ago because its dollar debts surpassed its cash position, and therefore it did not have the money to pay investors.

Itau said it expects 'positive news flow throughout 2010 to keep boosting the stocks.'

The bank also said it suspected Eletrobras would 'strengthen...independent of who the winner' will be in Brazil's 2010 presidential elections between opposition candidate and Sao Paulo state governor Jose Serra and President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva's chosen successor, Dilma Rousseff, currently chief of staff.

Eletrobras is a federal holding company operating 39% of Brazil's total installed capacity. The company produces more than 39,000 megawatts. It operates the massive Itaipu hydroelectric power station, the largest in Brazil.

On Thursday, Eletrobras shares were trading up 2.26% to BRL37.53. Its preferred shares (ELET6.BR) were up 1.3% to BRL31.30. Both were outperforming the Ibovespa stock index, down 1.03% to 67,497 points in the early afternoon hours.

In New York, Eletrobras' ADRs were up 1.68% to $21.16.

-By Kenneth Rapoza, Dow Jones Newswires, 5511-2847-4541, kenneth.rapoza@dowjones.com"