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Gold/Mining/Energy : Mining News of Note -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: LoneClone who wrote (45590)	10/20/2009 10:17:58 PM
From: LoneClone	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 194032

PREVIEW-Copper prices to help Grupo Mexico quarterly results Tue Oct 20, 2009 7:08pm EDT reuters.com * Miner's third quarter revenues seen down year-on-year * Expected improvement in quarter-over-quarter results * Asarco, Cananea resolutions seen soon By Mica Rosenberg MEXICO CITY, Oct 20 (Reuters) - Mexico's biggest copper miner, Grupo Mexico, is expected to post a drop in third-quarter revenues, year over year, but the results will be an improvement over the second-quarter of 2009 as copper prices recover. Three analysts consulted by Reuters saw Grupo Mexico (GMEXICOB.MX) revenues in the third quarter at nearly $1.3 billion, down from the $1.7 billion earned in the third-quarter last year. But the revenue estimate was higher than the the $1.059 billion earned in the April-June period. Prices for Grupo Mexico's major metals, namely copper and molybdenum, have steadily recovered from lows reached at the end of last year when commodities were hit by the financial crisis. Mexico's Ixe brokerage saw quarterly EBITDA, or earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization, dropping nearly 40 percent year-on-year to $528 million. "We think the market will be more interested in the sequential improvement in results rather than the year-on-year erosion, so we expect the report to support a continuation of the recent rally in Grupo Mexico's stock price," said a report by BBVA Bancomer. Grupo Mexico's stock has climbed 50 percent in the last two months after a U.S. judge recommended its bid to take back control of its bankrupt subsidiary Asarco over a rival offer from India's Sterlite. The company's stock closed down 3.03 percent at 28.81 pesos per share on Tuesday. Grupo Mexico lost control of Asarco's board due to the bankruptcy, but analysts are optimistic about its chances to win the company back. A Texas court should make a final decision on the case by the end of the month. The outlook was also bright for Grupo Mexico's chances of reopening Cananea, its largest copper mine in Mexico, which has been shut for more than two years due to a strike. Grupo Mexico closed the mine, which it said had become inoperable due to the prolonged shutdown. But the union is fighting a battle in court to prevent the workers from being fired. Some analysts were upbeat on the possibility of a resolution soon that could clear the way for the mine to be reopened. "That mine is expected to be restarted hopefully this year in the fourth quarter. All we are waiting for are the union appeals," said Jorge Beristain, an analyst at Deutsche. The company is expected to file its quarterly results on Thursday. (Reporting by Mica Rosenberg; Editing by Gary Hill)