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Strategies & Market Trends : Telebras (TBH) & Brazil -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Steve Fancy who wrote (9332)	11/2/1998 9:54:00 AM
From: Steve Fancy	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 22640

Latin America Remains Attractive To Corporate Buyers By ANTHONY DOVKANTS and LUCY FARNDON Dow Jones Newswires LONDON -- Market investors are staying well clear of Latin America these days as analyst forecast further economic downturn. But many European companies are still pumping money into the region. The threat of devaluation and uncertainty over whether Brazil will succeed with its latest austerity program have deterred speculative investors. Interest rates are crippling demand and Sao Paulo's stockmarket has nosedived 61% from its April high to its September low of 4,760. But many European companies are so committed to expanding their presence there, they say it would be worth the effort even if Brazil devalued and the region crumbled under an economic shock wave. Take Spain's Banco Bilbao Vizcaya SA (BBV), which is the largest bank in Venezuela and Colombia and the second- largest in Peru. It sees scope for high margins at its 15,000 branches in Latin America and intends to expand regardless of economic crisis or potential devaluation. "It's a question of opinion. We know Latin America and in our opinion it's an opportunity," Jose Luis Carranza, a member of BBV's executive committee told Dow Jones Newswires in an interview. "There are 80,000 people in the group, we have 55,000 in Latin America and we are going to increase this."