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       T R O U B L E D   C O M P A N Y   R E P O R T E R

                   L A T I N   A M E R I C A

            Wednesday, August 1, 2001, Vol. 2, Issue 149

                           Headlines


A R G E N T I N A

AEROLINEAS ARGENTINAS: President's Brother-In-Law Possible Owner
IRSA INVERSIONES: Moody's Downgrades Foreign, Domestic Ratings
WINSTAR: Sells Argentinean Operations To Datco


B O L I V I A

COTEL: German Firm To Take Over Administration By Mid-July


B R A Z I L

CVRD: Valia Hires Merrill Lynch To Manage Sale Of CSN Stake
EMBRATEL: To Launch New Strategies To Keep Up With Competition
GLOBO CABO: Share Trading Volume Spikes Amid Sale Speculations
SUPERVIA: Battles With Financial Crunch
TRANSBRASIL: Civil Court GE's Involuntary Bankruptcy Motion


C H I L E

GENER SA: TotalFinaElf To Pay $255M For Central Puerto Stake
TELEFONICA CTC: Reports Yet Another Quarterly Loss


E C U A D O R

FILANBANCO: Ecuador Refutes Possible Bank Deposit Freeze Rumors
FILANBANCO: Rumors Of Possible Fallout Hit Banco del Pacifico


M E X I C O

GRUPO DINA: Posts 2Q01, 1H01 Results: Sales Off 68% First Half
HYLSAMEX: Makes Payment On Loan Guarantee On Posven's Behalf
MAXCOM TELECOMUNICACIONES: 2Q01 Results; Turnaround Underway
SAVIA: Sees Light In Seminis' Strength
VITRO: Forecasts Increase In Full-Year Sales, EBITDA
XEROX: Announces 600 Job Dismissals At Brazilian Subsidiary


V E N E Z U E L A

CORIMON SA: Announces Results For Year Ended March 31
SIDOR: Continues To Struggle In The Wake Of Recession


     - - - - - - - - - - -


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A R G E N T I N A
=================

AEROLINEAS ARGENTINAS: President's Brother-In-Law Possible Owner
----------------------------------------------------------------
Aerolineas Argentinas, the ailing Argentine flagship owned by the
Spanish state holding company SEPI, may have Argentinean
president Fernando de la Rua's brother-in-law as its new owner,
according to an El Mundo Monday report. Mr. Pertine is the
representative of Spanish company Construcciones San Jose, which
is part of Air Europa, the Spanish airline group and member of a
Buenos Aires holding company, which wants to expand in the
tourism sector. The holding company is led by Eduardo Eurnekian,
owner of AA2000, the Argentinean airport operator, and
Argentinian airline LAPA.


IRSA INVERSIONES: Moody's Downgrades Foreign, Domestic Ratings
--------------------------------------------------------------
Concluding a review on Buenos Aires-based Inversiones y
Representaciones Sociedad Anonima, Moody's downgraded the
company's domestic currency issuer rating to B3, from B2, and
also its foreign currency issuer rating to Caa1, from B3. The
outlook on IRSA's ratings is negative. These rating actions are a
further consequence of Moody's having downgraded Argentina's
foreign currency country ceiling for bonds and notes to Caa1,
from B3.

Moody's disclosed that IRSA's earnings from its property
investments and developments are linked to the strength of the
Argentine economy. Furthermore, the combined effect of volatility
in the Argentine financial markets, the recession in the real
economy, an unstable political atmosphere and higher interest
rates have caused IRSA's operations and financial coverages to
deteriorate in the last two years.

IRSA's ratings reflect the fact that Argentina's commercial and
residential real estate markets are subject to the periodic
stresses induced by these macroeconomic factors. A reassuring
factor, however, is that the properties in IRSA's portfolio are
primarily located in and around Buenos Aires, where it derives a
semblance of economic stability in comparison to that of the
Argentine Republic as a whole. In addition, IRSA receives US
dollar-denominated revenues from its properties.

According to Moody's, IRSA's exposure to economic shifts in the
Argentine and Brazilian markets is counterbalanced by the fact
that IRSA is the largest Argentine real estate company with a
successful "invest and operate" strategy for commercial
properties. IRSA, a premier and well-run property firm, has a
sound and diverse portfolio mix, and is less vulnerable to
difficulties in any particular property sector. Its real estate
assets, including IRSA's consolidated subsidiaries and equity
investments in non consolidated subsidiaries, are divided as
follows: 28% shopping centers/retail, 24% office, 12% Brazil, 16%
land reserves, 11% residential and 9% lodging.

Moreover, the real estate investment company has strong occupancy
and rent levels, and has a leading position in the retail, class
A office, and upscale hotel sectors in Argentina. However, its
average office occupancy levels have fallen to 86% as of March
31, 2001, from 92% in March 31, 2000, reflecting the increased
supply of office space in Buenos Aires. Further affecting office
occupancy is that, by law, tenants may cancel any lease after six
months. Nevertheless, Moody's believes IRSA's high quality
properties help to protect it from tenant turnover.

The negative outlook on IRSA's ratings center on the macro-
economic forces affecting Argentina, which are hurting IRSA's
core businesses. Moody's noted that considerable political and
economic risk remains. Subsequent to these rating changes,
Moody's withdrew IRSA's ratings.


WINSTAR: Sells Argentinean Operations To Datco
----------------------------------------------
U.S.-based Winstar Communications, which has been in Chapter 11
bankruptcy protection since April, managed to sell its local
branch to the Argentinean company Datco, South American Business
Information revealed Monday. The data transmission company was
looking for a buyer for its regional operations since it called
in the receivers 3 months ago.

Winstar has invested a total of US$34 million since the start of
its Argentinean operations in 1999. Investments included the
acquisition of frequencies, a license for telecommunications
services, and the construction of its data and Internet network.
The installed infrastructure of Winstar covers almost the entire
capital of Buenos Aires and Greater Buenos Aires and has
operations in some provinces.

Datco is a company which specializes in consultancy services and
resale of information technology products. Horacio Martinez,
Director of Datco, disclosed that the company acquired the entire
Winstar operation in Argentina, including its debt of over US$2
million.

Winstar, which filed for bankruptcy protection in April, has been
cutting costs and divesting noncore assets. The company contends
it is close to breaking even on a cash flow basis.



=============
B O L I V I A
=============

COTEL: German Firm To Take Over Administration By Mid-July
----------------------------------------------------------
Government-appointed Cotel director Rene Bustillo confirmed that
the German telecoms consulting firm Detecon would take
administrative control of Cotel, Bolivia's largest fixed line
operator, in mid July, Business News Americas reported Sunday.
Detecon, which is majority owned by Deutsche Telecom and Deutsche
Bank, signed a five-year contract in May to administer Cotel in
return for US$138,000 in monthly management fee.

La Paz-based Cotel was intervened by Bolivia's telecoms regulator
Sittel in August 2000 after service was jeopardized by a nine-day
strike by employees protesting corruption and staff cuts. Sittel
began the search for an administrator after an unsuccessful
international auction on February 7 for a 51 percent stake in
Cotel.

Meanwhile, the Telecoms Ministry will decide by next week what
steps it will take after the election of members to Cotel's board
in May was found to be "riddled with irregularities." A
government audit has recommended that a new election be held,
Bustillo said. Bustillo's intervention mandate ends August 20.



===========
B R A Z I L
===========

CVRD: Valia Hires Merrill Lynch To Manage Sale Of CSN Stake
-----------------------------------------------------------
Valia, the pension fund of Companhia Vale do Rio Doce, is to sell
its approximate 15 percent stake in Companhia Siderurgica
Nacional, AFX-Europe related Friday. Valia Financial Director
Manoel Cordeiro said it has already hired Merrill Lynch to manage
the sale, which will be launched as soon as there is a window of
opportunity in the market. The sale will be structured as a
global offering with a domestic tranche, which is expected to be
around 30 percent.

In December, CVRD and CSN signed an agreement to relinquish their
cross-shareholdings.


EMBRATEL: To Launch New Strategies To Keep Up With Competition
--------------------------------------------------------------
Brazilian long distance call service carrier Embratel
Participacoes SA, which recently reported R$73 million in losses
in the first quarter of the year, is developing new strategies to
acquire and retain customers, South American Business Information
reported Monday. The company has already started negotiations
with local carriers Telemar, Telefonica and Brasil Telecom to
consolidate the phone bills. According to reports, the company is
following the steps of its competitor Intelig, which has already
launched the process.

Embratel is planning to expand from 9 to 29 the number of cities
where it intends to play in the local phone services for the
corporate segment, as of 2002. Some of the cities are:
Florianopolis, Manaus, Goiania, Vitoria and Belem. The
penetration in the local corporate market will represent savings
of R$780 million within five years, due to the non payment of the
interconnection fee of R$0.51.

In a related story, Embratel will cut its tariff for calls to the
US by 21 percent to 0.07 reals a minute for a promotional period
of 10 days, company vice-president for marketing Eduardo Levi
said. The move is also partly aimed at companies offering pirated
long-distance telephone services.


GLOBO CABO: Share Trading Volume Spikes Amid Sale Speculations
--------------------------------------------------------------
Trading in Globo Cabo shares has been high in June and July,
averaging 894 trades daily, according to a report Monday in South
American Business Information. The shares of the Brazilian
company, which provides cable TV and broadband internet access,
are being sought because of speculation about the possible sale
of the company's cable network that would allow it to retire its
debt, while renting the network to continue its operations. The
value of the network is estimated to be at US$800 million, while
the company's debts stand around US$687.8 million.

Globo's dollar debt mountain is getting more costly daily as the
local currency slides, advertising spending is shrinking and TVs
and computers are going off across Brazil to save on sparse
energy.

Feeling the pressure, Globo has shifted to austerity mode,
slashing staff at its Globo Cabo (PLIM4) cable TV and Internet
unit and at O Globo daily, the newspaper that more than half a
century ago gave birth to the group. The company recently said it
would chop 1,200 staff and cut other costs to compensate rising
debt costs and less growth.

"They are flat-out over-leveraged," said Chris Recouso, an
analyst at Bear Stearns. "Is this (staff cuts) enough to shield
them? No. They have got to go a lot further."


SUPERVIA: Battles With Financial Crunch
---------------------------------------
Supervia, which operates the metropolitan train system in the
Brazilian state of Rio de Janeiro, is reportedly facing a
financial crisis with R$5 million in debt, South American
Business Information reported Monday. Shareholders, who have made
a capital increase of US$150 million since they took over the
concession, are said to have suspended new investments in the
interim and have dismissed company officers. Supervia reduced
expected new investments for this year from R$80 million to R$15
million.

Supervia is controlled by the banks Proper and Pactual,
international investment funds and the Spanish group
Construcciones y Auxiliar de Ferrocarriles.


TRANSBRASIL: Civil Court GE's Involuntary Bankruptcy Motion
-----------------------------------------------------------
Judge Cinthia Adas of Sao Paulo's 19th civil court on Monday
denied a request by GE Capital Corp. to force Transbrasil into
bankruptcy because of its failure to honor more than $2 million
in debt obligations, Ft.com said in a report. According to an
unnamed court press officer, the judge obviously accepted
Transbrasil's arguments that GE's prices were above market value.

Transbrasil reportedly signed a renegotiated leasing contract for
five aircraft on May 27. Under the contract, the carrier owes
more than $20 million to five different companies, including the
$2.6 million to GE Capital.

Transbrasil, which employs 700 pilots and stewards, has debts
estimated at 800 million reals ($320 million).



=========
C H I L E
=========

GENER SA: TotalFinaElf To Pay $255M For Central Puerto Stake
------------------------------------------------------------
As part of a broader strategy to purchase Chile-based Gener's
power assets in Argentina, French energy giant TotalFinaElf
agreed to acquire 63.9 percent of Argentina's Central Puerto
power plant from Gener for $255 million, EFE reported Monday. The
deal has been approved by Argentine regulators. Under the
preliminary terms of the deal, TotalFinaElf will pay $612 million
for three other power plants with a combined generating capacity
of 4,200 megawatts and assume $39 million in debt.

Central Puerto operates four gas-powered plants in Argentina with
a combined generating capacity of 2,165 megawatts and is looking
to expand in power-starved Brazil.


TELEFONICA CTC: Reports Yet Another Quarterly Loss
--------------------------------------------------
Telefonica CTC Chile, Chile's largest telecommunications
provider, posted its seventh loss in eight quarters, partly due
to one-time charges from firing employees, Bloomberg said Monday
in a report. Telefonica lost 9.8 billion pesos ($15.5 million) in
the second quarter, narrowing a loss of 18.4 billion pesos in the
previous year.

"They faced a big charge from the layoffs," according to Barbara
Angerstein, a telecommunications analyst at Celfin SA.  

In an effort to return to profitability, the company dismissed
nearly 18 percent of its workforce in June, equivalent to 1,639
employees, for a projected annual savings of US$47 million. The
company posted a $23.8-million charge from the dismissals.



=============
E C U A D O R
=============

FILANBANCO: Ecuador Refutes Possible Bank Deposit Freeze Rumors
---------------------------------------------------------------
The Ecuadorian government debunked current speculation about
possible freeze on bank deposits following the recent liquidation
of Filanbanco, AFX-Europe said Monday in a report. According to
the general secretary to the presidency Marcelo Santos, the
Inter-American Development Bank and Andean Development Corp. are
to make "major payments intended to strengthen the financial
sector" over the coming days. However, the actual size of the
forthcoming payments was not reported.


FILANBANCO: Rumors Of Possible Fallout Hit Banco del Pacifico
-------------------------------------------------------------
General secretary to the presidency Marcelo Santos revealed that
the rumors surrounding the possible fallout from the situation at
state-owned Filanbanco, whose operations the government suspended
two weeks ago due to a liquidity crisis, have affected Banco del
Pacifico, another state-owned bank, AFX-Europe reported Monday.
The swelling rumors led to unexpectedly large withdrawals from
Banco del Pacifico customers Thursday and Friday. According to
Santos, Banco del Pacifico had sufficient liquidity to meet all
depositors' requirements.



===========
M E X I C O
===========

GRUPO DINA: Posts 2Q01, 1H01 Results: Sales Off 68% First Half
--------------------------------------------------------------
Beleaguered Mexican truck maker Consorcio G Grupo Dina posted 271
million pesos in sales during the first-half of the year, 68
percent down from the comparable period in the previous year,
reported Mexican financial daily El Economista Monday. It posted
a first-half operating loss of 199 million pesos, as compared to
an operating loss of 255 million pesos in the year-ago period.
According to Dina, poor results are due to a worldwide downturn
in the auto industry, as well as an increase in the prices of
fuel.

Dina also registered second-quarter sales totaling 129 million
pesos, as against 196 million pesos a year earlier. However, the
company's second-quarter net loss was 86 million pesos, a
substantial improvement over a net loss of 227 million pesos in
the year-ago period.


HYLSAMEX: Makes Payment On Loan Guarantee On Posven's Behalf
------------------------------------------------------------
Mexican steel maker Hylsamex paid off on July 13 a $13.3-million
obligation arising from a loan guarantee it made on behalf of
Venezuelan steel company Posven. Earlier this year Posven
defaulted on $270 million in bank debt requiring Hylsamex to step
in as guarantor, revealed Mexican financial daily El Economista
Monday.

Posven is a Venezuelan venture among Hylsamex, Korea's Pohang
Iron and Steel Co. and Venezuela's CVG Ferrominera. It borrowed
$266 million from 15 banks in 1997 to build a hot briquette iron-
ore plant. Hylsamex, which owns a 5-percent stake in the plant,
guaranteed that portion of the loan.

During the third quarter, Hylsamex is expected to utilize part of
a $40-million credit line made available to it by parent company
Monterrey-based Grupo Alfa.


MAXCOM TELECOMUNICACIONES: 2Q01 Results; Turnaround Underway
------------------------------------------------------------
Maxcom Telecomunicaciones

-- Strong installation growth at the end of the quarter

-- Turnaround has started

Maxcom Telecomunicaciones, S.A. de C.V., a facilities-based
telecommunications provider (CLEC) using a "smart build" approach
to focus on small- and medium-sized businesses and residential
customers in Mexico City and Puebla, announced Monday its
unaudited results for the second quarter of 2001.

NOTE: Maxcom commenced commercial operations on May 1, 1999;
therefore, during 2000 a comparison with 1999 was not meaningful.
Effective first quarter of the year 2001, Maxcom began comparing
its reporting periods to the same quarter of the previous year.
In some cases throughout this document references will be made to
the three-month period ended on March 31, 2001. Financial
statements are reported in period-end pesos as of June 30, 2001
and adjusted for the inter-period effect of inflation.

LINES:

The new Management Team has focused particularly on enhancing and
developing a new process for improving the time to market on
construction and installation of lines, as well as implementing
churn management and customer retention programs.

During 2Q01, 10,982 new lines were installed, a 121% increase
when compared to 4,964 new lines installed during 2Q00, and 82%
more than the 6,024 lines installed on 1Q01. Line installations
particularly showed a positive trend during the month of June
2001, when for the first time in Maxcom's history almost 6,000
lines were installed in a single month.

During 2Q01, 6,129 lines were disconnected, of which 37% were
forced by Maxcom and the remaining 63% were unforced
disconnections. June 2001 trends also showed encouraging results,
there were only 622 unforced disconnections in the month, which
represents a churn rate of approximately 2%.

Backlog as of June 30, 2001 was 4,074 lines, as compared to
13,512 lines as of June 30, 2000, and 8,917 lines as of March 31,
2001. Special attention was taken to ensure that today's backlog
only includes actual installable lines. At the closing of the
quarter, the aging was 77% below 30 days and 90% below 60 days.

Existing clusters have additional capacity of 17,000 installable
lines, which are integrated by reserve lines for potential
maintenance and previous disconnected lines. A special sales
commissions program was put in place to accelerate the sale of
these lines and is expected to be sold and installed in the next
6 months.

The net number of lines at the end of 2Q01 increased 27% to
33,205 from 26,071 lines at the end of 2Q00, and 17% from 28,352
lines registered at the end of 1Q01. The strong growth in
residential lines was still based on the inertia cluster
construction in residential areas. Presently, the company's new
strategy is focused on constructing business clusters and
business single sites to achieve the desired 40 to 50% business
lines mix by year-end.

Residential lines participation was also distorted by a heavy
concentration of such lines in the Puebla region, representing
76% of the total, as opposed to Mexico City where they
represented 34%.

CUSTOMERS:

Total customers grew 442% to 18,653 in 2Q01, from 3,442 in 2Q00,
and 41% from 13,208 reported at the end of 1Q01, reflecting the
Company's continued effort to strengthen and diversify its
customer base.

Maxcom's intentional focus on disconnecting unprofitable and high
volume customers was a factor that contributed to the decrease of
total outbound traffic. Nevertheless, outbound traffic per
residential line increased 12% quarter over quarter.

ARPUs:

In the past, Maxcom had been reporting Average Revenues per Line
figures in current US dollars. By doing it this way, ARPUs could
not be entirely comparable over time as they did not reflect both
the effects of the inflation and exchange rate fluctuations.
Beginning this quarter, the Company adopted the industry practice
of reporting ARPUs restated in constant US dollars as of the
closing of the actual reporting period.

Company total ARPU decreased 14% as a consequence of: (1)
Troncalmax ARPU contribution decreased from 47% in 2Q00 to 16% in
2Q01; and, (2) a larger contribution from residential lines to
total lines, in 2Q00 residential lines represented 11% of the
total line count, while in 2Q01 its contribution increased to
53%.

CHANGES IN ACCOUNTING POLICIES AND FINANCIAL REPORTING:

Beginning this quarter and in accordance with Industry Standard
Best Practices, the Company adopted the following: first, the
inclusion of network technical expenses, and second, the
installation expenses of disconnected lines within the Cost of
the Network and renamed the concept as Cost of Network Operation.

In the past, network technical expenses were included in SG&A,
this reclassification did not affect the bottom line starting
with EBITDA and below. Installation expenses for disconnected
lines were reclassified from deferred to incurred costs. In this
case, EBITDA and below items were affected. Nevertheless, neither
network technical expenses nor installation expenses represented
additional cash disbursements.

REVENUES:

In spite of an 8% increase on average lines, revenues for 2Q01
decreased 8% to Ps$58.9 million, from Ps$64.0 million registered
in 2Q00, and 7% from Ps$63.7 million reported in 1Q01. This
change reflects a 14% decrease in ARPU, which combines the
following: (1) 6,000 lines installed during June, which will not
generate revenues until July 2001; (2) a greater contribution of
residential lines on the C- and lower socioeconomic level
penetration built in the past quarters; (3) the delay of price
increase until June 15, 2001; and, (4) forced churn, particularly
on high volume customers.

COST OF NETWORK OPERATION:

As explained above, Maxcom had been reporting Cost of Network
Services as: (1) reselling costs; (2) dedicated leased circuits'
costs; and, (3) interconnection costs to carriers. Beginning this
quarter, technical expenses and installation expenses for
disconnected lines were reclassified and added to Cost of Network
Operation.
Therefore, Cost of Network Operation was reported as follows:
Ps$41.5 million in 2Q01; Ps$31.2 million in 2Q00; and, Ps$15.4 in
1Q01.

SG&A:

Under the new Accounting and Reporting policies, SG&A for 2Q01
were Ps$81.6 million for 2Q01, Ps$84.9 million in 2Q00, and
Ps$131.0 in 1Q01.

Total Salaries, Wages and Benefits for 2Q01 were Ps$59.5 million,
compared to Ps$53.8 million in 2Q00, and Ps$47.5 million in 1Q01.
As of June 30, 2001, employee headcount was 650 compared to 406
employees as of June 30, 2000, and 545 employees as of March
31st, 2001.

Marketing Expenses for 2Q01 amounted to Ps$5.2 million from
Ps$5.7 million in 2Q00, and Ps$5.5 million in 1Q01.

Consulting Fees for 2Q01 were Ps$2.2 million, compared to Ps$8.3
million in 2Q00, and Ps$44.2 million in 1Q01.

The Company provisioned Ps$3.5 million for Bad Debt Reserve in
2Q01 in compliance with its adjusted Bad debt policy.

EBITDA:

With the reclassification of installation expenses for year 2001,
negative EBITDA for 2Q01 was Ps$58.4 million, compared to
negative EBITDA of Ps$88.5 million in 1Q01.

As reported, negative EBITDA for 2Q01 was Ps$64.2 million,
compared to negative EBITDA of Ps$52.0 million in 2Q00. Negative
EBITDA in 1Q01 was Ps$82.7 million.

ONE-TIME ADJUSTMENTS:

During 2Q01 Maxcom, as explained above, reclassified both
technical and installation expenses for year 2001. In addition,
Maxcom registered the following items as one-time adjustments
from previous years: installation expenses for disconnected lines
during 2000 in the amount of Ps$13.1 million; a provision for
inventory obsolescence in the amount of Ps$6.4 million; and,
unregistered network maintenance expenses in the amount of Ps$3.3
million.

CAPITAL EXPENDITURES:

Capital Expenditures for 2Q01 were Ps$96.1 million, compared to
Ps$146.2 million in 2Q00. CAPEX in 1Q01 were Ps$24.0 million. In
addition, other Ps$56.2 million were committed as of June 30,
2001, and will be used during 3Q01.

CASH POSITION:

Maxcom's Cash position in the second quarter of 2001 was Ps$732.0
million (Ps$640.1 million in Cash and Cash Equivalents and
Ps$91.9 million in Maxtel bonds, equivalent to US$25 million face
value), and Ps$364.9 million in Restricted Cash (deposited into
an escrow account to guarantee debt service until April 2002 for
the US$300 million 13.75% senior notes due 2007), compared to
Ps$1,008.1 million in Cash and Cash Equivalents, and Ps$842.8
million in Restricted Cash at the end of 2Q00, and to Ps$982.8
million in Cash and Cash Equivalents, and Ps$579.7 million in
Restricted Cash at the end of 1Q01.

OTHER ANNOUNCEMENTS:

As of July 2001, Maxcom has named PricewaterhouseCoopers as its
new auditor given their extensive experience in the Mexican
telecommunications sector.

Maxcom also announced that as of July 2001, Salvador Alva and
Marco Provencio joined the Board of Directors, as Series "A"
Directors.
Salvador Alva brings a vast experience to Maxcom's Board of
Directors as he has worked for 18 years at Pepsico Inc., and was
most recently President and CEO of Grupo Gamesa. Mr. Alva is also
the President of the Mexican Association for Electronic Commerce.

Marco Provencio is a partner consultant and head of the public
relations practice at "MBD: Mexico Business Development." He was
Press Secretary and Spokesman for President Ernesto Zedillo
during the year 2000. Mr. Provencio has spent most of his
professional career, 14 years, in the Treasury Ministry, where he
held positions such as Spokesman and Director General for
International Financial Affairs. He also worked at the Foreign
Affairs Ministry for three years, where he was appointed
Assistant Secretary for Economic and Multilateral Affairs.


SAVIA: Sees Light In Seminis' Strength
--------------------------------------
Grupo Savia of Mexico is now directing its focus on the
strengthening of its seed subsidiary Seminis' world market
leadership. With its debt problems theoretically behind it in
following the divestiture from other operations, the company
expect better results ahead, South American Business Information
reported Monday. In totality, Savia reduced debt by US$913
million and has US$80 million left to pay in October 2002
(Seminis has also restructured its US$310-million debt). In the
second quarter of 2001, the conglomerate posted net sales for
ongoing operations of 1.647 billion pesos. Seminis' second
quarter performance led it to wipe out US$20 million of the above
debt, and cut operational costs by 14 percent or US$11 million,
while raising cash-flow generation 3.7 times over.


VITRO: Forecasts Increase In Full-Year Sales, EBITDA
----------------------------------------------------
Mexican leading glass maker Vitro is projecting full-year 2001
sales of $3 billion, up from $2.86 billion in the previous year,
and $550 million in EBITDA, according to a report in Mexican
financial daily El Economista. Vitro is projecting the rise in
projected sales, and a corresponding increase in EBITDA, despite
an economic slump in Mexico and the U.S.

The company posted a 7.5-percent increase in sales during the
second quarter of the year, to $748 million, as compared to the
year-ago period. The increase in the second-quarter sales was
driven by sales of glass containers and the company's Arco-
Whirlpool division.

Second-quarter earnings were negatively impacted by weaker
exports due to the continuing strength of the Mexican peso and a
decline in the price of imported competitor products due, again,
to the continuing strength of the peso.


XEROX: Announces 600 Job Dismissals At Brazilian Subsidiary
-----------------------------------------------------------
As part of a global restructuring to cut $1 billion in costs,
office equipment company Xerox Corp. is slashing 600 of the 3,200
employees working at its Brazilian subsidiary, Xerox do Brasil,
Reuters reported Monday. The cuts are part of a cost-saving
global reduction of 8,600 jobs since September, although Xerox
said a weakening in the Brazilian currency, rising interest rates
and general financial volatility as a result of neighboring
Argentina's crisis also led it to trim staff in Brazil. The
dismissed employees will leave the company by the end of next
month.

Meanwhile, Anne Mulcahy was named chief operating officer of the
troubled company on Thursday and has been charged with navigating
it through the tough turnaround.



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V E N E Z U E L A
=================

CORIMON SA: Announces Results For Year Ended March 31
-----------------------------------------------------
Corimon CA, which nearly went bankrupt in 1996, announced its
loss for the year ended March 31 widened 53 percent as it
continues to restructure its operations, Bloomberg reported
Monday. Corimon's loss from continuing operations was 5.1 billion
bolivars (US$7 million), or 0.68 bolivars a share, compared to
3.3 billion bolivars, or 0.44 bolivars a share.

"EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and
amortization) improved, and they lowered their debt load," said
Alex Dalmady, managing director of research firm InvestAnalysis.
"Corimon isn't going broke."

The overall loss, including discontinued operations, was 11.6
billion bolivars, down 16 percent from 13.7 billion.

"We have a five-year plan," disclosed Corimon Chairman Carlos
Gill. "Our balance sheet is much more realistic now than it was
when we started -- we expect better results this year."

Corimon continues to take charges to complete a restructuring
begun last year. Charges about tripled to 6.1 billion bolivars
from 2.3 billion.

Meanwhile, Corimon also said it expects to strike an agreement
with state petrochemical company Pequiven SA and the
International Finance Corp. shortly to withdraw from their Pralca
joint venture.

Pralca, which makes ethylene oxide, used to make insulation,
started production in 1993 but has been hurt by slumping
petrochemical prices as well as cost overruns. Corimon has
invested about $70 million in the project, including a
surrounding industrial park, which is also for sale.

"Corimon will be exiting Pralca, with our shares going to
Pequiven," said Gill.


SIDOR: Continues To Struggle In The Wake Of Recession
-----------------------------------------------------
A spokesperson from Venezuelan integrated steel maker Sidor
disclosed that the company is still battling with a tough
situation caused by the country's continuing recession, Business
News Americas reported Monday.

"There has been no economic recovery here. Though we are
accumulating international reserves, there is no tangible
recovery to allow us to say we are selling," said the
spokesperson.

Domestically, Ciudad Guayana-based Sidor is suffering because
sectors such as construction, which is dependent on government
policy, have not been as active as expected, according to the
spokesperson.

"As exporters, we try to maintain our market and make new
investments, but with the price as it is, much greater effort is
required to try to compensate for low revenue," the spokesperson
added.




S U B S C R I P T I O N   I N F O R M A T I O N

Troubled Company Reporter Latin American is a daily newsletter
co-published by Bankruptcy Creditors' Service, Inc., Trenton, NJ,
and Beard Group, Inc., Washington, DC. John D. Resnick, Edem
Psamathe P. Alfeche and Janice Mendoza, Editors.

Copyright 2001.  All rights reserved.  ISSN 1529-2746.

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