WRAPUP 1-Banco Brasil, Bradesco net gains with VisaNet sale

Wed Jul 8, 2009 9:33am EDT
 
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* Banks net $304 mln from additional stake sales

* Gains to impact third-quarter earnings, banks say

* VisaNet IPO was world's largest in past 12 months

By Guillermo Parra-Bernal

SAO PAULO, July 8 (Reuters) - Brazilian banks Bradesco and Banco do Brasil said they would book pretax profits totaling 610 million reais ($304 million) from additional stake sales in VisaNet, days after the credit card operator's record-setting initial public offering.

Bradesco (BBDC4.SA)(BBD.N), Brazil's second-largest private sector bank, said it would book a pretax gain of 410 million reais from the sale of a 2.2 percent stake in VisaNet (VNET3.SA). The gain will affect third-quarter earnings results, the Osasco, Brazil-based bank said in a regulatory filing on Wednesday.

Banco do Brasil (BBAS3.SA), Brazil's largest state-controlled bank, will book a pretax gain of 200 million reais from the sale of an undisclosed stake in VisaNet, the Brasilia-based bank said in a regulatory filing.

Easing global credit conditions and hopes for a recovery in the economies of major developed countries fueled risk-taking among foreign and local investors participating in the VisaNet IPO.

Shareholders raised 8.4 billion reais from the offering last month, the largest IPO ever in Brazil and the world's biggest in the past 12 months, according to Thomson Reuters data.

Bradesco and Banco do Brasil announced on June 30 they would use part of the initial IPO proceeds of 3.4 billion reais to boost provisions for bad loans. Loan delinquencies in May rose to their highest level since September 2000 as the Brazilian economy fell into recession. ($1=2.00 reais) (Reporting by Guillermo Parra-Bernal and Alberto Alerigi Jr; editing by John Wallace)