Mensajepor MARCO1 » Lun Mar 23, 2015 7:08 pm
Edenor Rises to 8-Year High on Argentina Power Rate Increase
(Bloomberg) -- Edenor, Argentina’s largest electricity distributor, rallied to the highest in almost eight years as the government plans to allow the company to raise rates for the first time since 2007.
The utility, formally known as Empresa Distribuidora & Comercializadora Norte SA, rose for a fifth straight session, gaining 2 percent to 10.20 pesos at the close in Buenos Aires, the highest since April 2007, when trading of the stock began.
Edenor, which provides electricity to about 3 million clients, will be allowed to increase rates later this year, and in the meantime the government will transfer funds to the utility to shore up its finances, according to a March 13 resolution. The subsidy will probably amount to $455 million, Daniela Cuan, an analyst at Moody’s Investors Service, said in a phone interview.
The government resolution will also benefit Empresa Distribuidora Sur SA, the second-largest distributor in Argentina, as the utilities face blackouts caused by record electricity demand after years of frozen rates.
“The government is finally acknowledging a new and definitive rate must be approved,” Cuan said in a telephone interview from Buenos Aires. “This is a credit positive for Edenor.”
Edenor’s dependence on frozen rates as demand surges pushed the yield on its bonds due in 2022 to an 11-month high of 19 percent on Feb. 11. The yield has since dropped to about 16 percent.
Demand for the utility’s electricity rose 14 percent in February from a year earlier, according to power-market research firm Fundelec figures released yesterday.
Eduardo Mirabelli, an Edenor spokesman, declined to comment on the increase as the company is still analyzing its impact.
aca la nota que salio el viernes...