By Herbert Lash
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stock offerings in Brazil are likely to increase by about 20 percent in number and in amount of money raised this year from a record 2006, the head of equity underwriting at UBS said on Monday.
A downturn three weeks ago in world stock markets sparked by a plunge in Shanghai and subsequent concerns about the U.S. subprime mortgage market have not led to any delays in Brazilian offerings, said Sebastien Chatel, a managing director at UBS (UBSN.VX: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), a leading underwriter for equities in the region.
There is no sign yet of a peak in the market, he said. Recent market volatility "thus far it hasn't delayed anything, and the issuance calendar still looks pretty heavy."
Brazil accounted for about three-fourths of regional stock offerings last year, and about the same is expected this year, Chatel said at the Reuters Latin American Investment Summit.
"In terms of numbers, new issuances, I think probably something like 20 percent up, obviously very dependent on market conditions," Chatel said.
As of last week, 22 companies had registered this year with CVM, Brazil's securities regulator, to raise money through share offerings. So far this year, stock offerings have raised about 8.8 billion reais, compared with about 31.1 billion reais (about $14.8 billion) for all of last year, according to CVM.
"Brazil is still a very, very young market, and it has a long way to go," Chatel said. "There is no reason to think we're at the top of the cycle. It has two to three years to run."
HIGHER OFFERING PRICES Continued...
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