AUGUST 1

JUAN CARLOS SÁNCHEZ MAGALLÁN /CHANGES. (EXCÉLSIOR 10) Marcelo Ebrard, Mexico’s future Minister of Foreign Affairs, is fulfilling his diplomatic duty. After just a few days, changes in the way and style things are done during this transition of the federal government have been observed... What can you say about Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s splendid relationship with the country's businessmen? Alfonso Romo, incoming Chief of Staff for the Office of the President, brought together several important figures from the Monterrey Group around the future President: Rogelio Zambrano (Cemex), Armando Garza Sada (Alfa), Enrique Zambrano (Proeza), Federico Toussaint (Lamosa), Eduardo Garza (Frisa), Juan González Moreno (Gruma), Juan Ignacio Garza (Caintra) and Tomás González Sada (Vitro)…

STRONG DOLLAR WORKS IN FAVOR OF GRUMA SALES. Expansion.mx/empresas/2018/07/25 Not all Mexican companies have been hit by the weakness of the peso against the dollar. On the contrary, the most globalized businesses benefit from the strength of the U.S. currency. Such is the case of Gruma,a global leader in the production of corn flour, tortillas and wraps, whose second quarter results reflect the good financial performance of its business in the United States.

AUGUST 4

GOOD STOCK MARKET INVESTMENTS. (ALTO NIVEL 44-47) The alarms have been deactivated and, although in some sectors of the Mexican economy the doubts will persist until the new government takes office and the first decisions start to be made, everything seems to indicate that there will be no surprises. This is consistent with promises made by the winning candidate in his speeches on July 1... Actinver brokerage house has built a model of “favored companies,” which changes as market conditions evolve. As of last July 80% of that package of 15 companies were classified as “buy,” 15% as “maintain,” and only 5% as “sell.” Among these favoritesare the shares of Femsa, Chedraui, Grupo México, Gruma, Liverpool, Sports World, Vinte Viviendas, Banco del Bajío, and Fibra Uno.

AUGUST 8

GRUMA ONCE AGAIN AMONG THE HIGHEST-VALUED COMPANIES, WITH A POTENTIAL OF 15%. Economiahoy.mx/mercados-eAm-mexico/ Gruma is the company that returned to the EcoMex10 portfolio this week, replacing Ienova. The corn flour and tortillas producer returns to the entity that brings together the strongest and highest-valued issuing companies in Mexico with an upside potential of close to 15%, according to the market consensus compiled by FactSet. This could raise share prices to MXN 277.20 within the next 12 months. 

AUGUST 15

AGUAKÁN JOINS THE PENINSULAR AGREEMENT FOR SUSTAINABILITY Palcoquintanarroense.com.mx/ As a way of demonstrating its interest in continuing to conduct operations in a way that is accountable both to the environment and local communities, AGUAKAN announced that it will join the Declaration of the Private and Financial Sector for the Sustainability of the Yucatan Peninsula, and that it is committed to implementing projects aligned with the primary goals of productivity, profitability, and conservation of natural resources consistent with the 2030 Agenda... In addition, it is worth recalling that this declaration was signed by companies interested in the conservation and sustainable management of the Mayan Rainforest and its biodiversity, among which are Banamex, Bimbo, Gruma and Grupo Modelo... 

AUGUST 17

“WE WANT TO HELP.” (EL SOL DE MÉXICO PP-4) (LA JORNADA PP-3) (EL FINANCIERO PP-48) Fifty owners of the most important companies in Mexico committed themselves to making investments geared towards attaining a growth rate of 4% in the country and reducing violence during the presidency of Andrés Manuel López Obrador, who will in turn eliminate obstacles, thereby facilitating business. The heads of Femsa, Gruma, Lala, Alfa, Cultiba, Softtek, Televisa, Gentera, Herdez, América Móvil, Gigante, Cinemex, Kuo, Banamex,  Cinemex, Kuo, Banamex,  Nadro and several other companies met at the Bosque Entrepreneur Club.

AUGUST 23

TOP 110 BUSINESSES IN THE NORTH. (EXPANSIÓN 2-65-69) In Mexico, economic activity is concentrated in the center of the country, but the north isn’t far behind and is home to 110 of the top 500 companies in the country. Neither the trade war initiated by Donald Trump, which imposed tariffs on products such as steel, nor the political uncertainty caused by the Mexican elections have affected sales. According to Expansión’s rankings, the majority of these businesses attained significant growth during 2017. The Nuevo León Chamber of the Manufacturing Industry (Caintra), which represents the industrial firms of the region, believes it is necessary for the incoming government of Andrés Manuel López Obrador to promote policies that boost exports to other countries, reduce dependence on the United States, and improve productivity. Gruma occupies the 15th position in the rankings, while the Grupo Industrial Maseca is at 38.

AUGUST 27

GRUMA TO PLACE UP TO MXN 8 BILLION OF ITS DEBT. (EL ECONOMISTA 1-5) The biggest producer of corn flour in the world, Gruma, is in the process of implementing a plan to issue short-term and long-term certificates for up to MXN 8 billion. Although it has not announced a start date for the plan, it intends to make an initial proposal of MXN 3 billion of the total funds for the five-year program.

FOOD COMPANIES SALES HIGHER IN FOREIGN COUNTRIES. (REFORMA 4) In the last 10 years, Mexican companies such as Grupo Maseca, Grupo Bimbo and Coca-Cola Femsa (KOF) have been able to increase their sales outside of Mexico and, in some cases, the United States is now their main market. In all cases, foreign sales have increased due to company purchases abroad. Gruma’s participation in the country remains practically unchanged. In 2008 they represented 25% and this year it was 26%, not including Molinera México in either period. However, its presence in the U.S. has been consolidated: 10 years ago, 37.8% of its sales came from the U.S., while the figure currently stands at 55.4%.

AUGUST 28

500 FITNESS. (AMÉRICAECONOMÍA 6-46-55) (AMÉRICAECONOMÍA 56-65) (AMÉRICAECONOMÍA 66-74) To use a sporting metaphor, one could say that the largest companies in Latin America have undergone intense training, but that this has resulted in improved tone (profitability) rather than increased muscle mass (sales). Essentially, economic conditions have not been conducive to growth. At least since 2012—year in which the 500 Top Companies in Latin America reached their sales peak by more than USD 2.6 trillion—the revenues of this select club of 110 companies have done nothing but decrease until 2017, when they showed a slight rebound of 8.7%, which can be partly explained by the dollar prices of several Latin American currencies. Gruma is number 149 in these rankings.

AUGUST 29

DEBT IN DOLLARS WEIGHS UPON ISSUERS. (EL ECONOMISTA PP-1-8)  (EL ECONOMISTA.COM) Liabilities in U.S. dollars continue to weigh heavily on issuing companies listed on the Mexican Stock Exchange (BMV), especially Cemex, Alpek, Alfa and Bimbo. Of the 35 company-wide sample that make up the BMV’s primary indicator, the S&P/BMV/IPC, 21 of them have liabilities in dollars, 48% of which maintain a high level of indebtedness in U.S. currency. Among these companies are IEnova, Alpek, Grupo México, Alfa, Gruma, Mexichem, Cemex, Liverpool, Bimbo, and Televisa. Gerardo Copea, Director of Market Analysis at MetAnálisis, stressed that the current exchange rate of  MXN 19 pesos to the dollar, is not affecting companies indebted in dollars...

AUGUST 30

S&P GIVES GRUMA A STABLE OUTLOOK. (MILENIO DIARIO DE MONTERREY 0) S&P Global Ratings assigned its national and long-term issuer credit ratings mxAA + and mxA-1 +, respectively, to Gruma, as well as a stable outlook, the ratings agency reported. In a statement, it also added that it had assigned a debt rating of mxAA + to the company’s proposed issuance of long-term stock certificates for up to MXN 3 billion with a five-year maturity at a variable rate and ticker symbol Gruma 18, based on the information provided by the company.

AUGUST 31

SILVIA GIORGULIS SAUCEDO: THE MULTIPLE DIMENSIONS OF INTEGRATION BETWEEN MEXICO AND THE UNITED STATES.  (ANTENA RADIO (MORNING SHOW) In her weekly report for Antena Radio, Dr. Silvia Giorgulis Saucedo, President of the Colegio de México, spoke of the multiple dimensions of integration between Mexico and the United States. She referred to the bookVanishing Frontiers: The Forces Driving Mexico and the United States Together, by Andrew Selee, which argues that the Mexico-United States relationship has changed in response to the changes that have taken place in Mexico in recent decades, such as a higher level of education, the existence of a more highly-skilled workforce, increased investment in Mexico by large groups such as Bimbo and Gruma, as well as the successful impact of Mexican microentrepreneurs, technological development, Mexico’s status as an artistic and cultural power in terms of film, literature, music, a reality that fosters a different notion of the process of integration.