March 2

THE FIVE IPC ISSUERS THAT MADE GAINS IN Q420 DESPITE THE CORONAVIRUS. (EL FINANCIERO PP-16) (EXCÉLSIOR 2) During Q420, companies in the BMV’s Prices and Quotations Index (S&P/BMVIPC), excluding banks, reported a 6.3% growth in their operating cash flow (EBITDA), close to 3 percentage points higher than market expectations, despite the difficult end of 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic. The five reports with the largest increases in operating cash flow (EBITDA) included Grupo México with 58.3%, followed by Orbia with 38.9%, Genomma Lab with 29.6%, Cemex with 24%, and Gruma with 23%. In the case of Gruma,“Ve por Más” analyst Marisol Huerta indicated that the company’s consolidated results were driven by a 2% annual increase in volume and higher prices in the United States and Mexico, in addition to the changes made to the foreign exchange rate.

YELLOW AND WHITE CORN DEVELOPMENT IS A PRODUCTIVE RECONVERSION OPTION FOR THE REGION. (DIARIO TIJUANA ONLINE (BAJA CALIFORNIA) 0) Baja California has an important market for yellow corn consumed by the livestock and poultry sector. Ever since the current state administration took office, it has promoted productive reconversion programs in the state’s agricultural sector through the Secretariat for Farmland and Food Security, informed its director Héctor Haros Encinas. He noted the existence of a similar situation in the white corn market with its demand of more than 130,000 tons per year, which is why they recently agreed with MASECA to evaluate that corn’s different hybrids and varieties to obtain the best materials adapted to the company’s flour production process. For his part, the Director of Agriculture and Livestock of the SCSA, Manuel de Jesús Quintero Meza, noted out that two demonstrative plots established in the Mexicali Valley, with producers cooperating to evaluate 13 white corn varieties and hybrids, with supervision by MASECA’S technical staff and the Secretariat for Farmland and Food Security.

March 3

ROBERTO AGUILAR / CORPORATE MOMENT. (EL SOL DE MÉXICO 17) Stock market activity. What do Walmart de México, Grupo Financiero Banorte, América Móvil, Femsa, Grupo México, Cemex, Fibra Uno, Grupo Aeroportuario del Pacífico, Gruma and TRAC of the S&P/BMV IPC Index have in common? They were the most traded shares last year on the BMV led by José Oriol Bosch. In 2020, the amount traded reported a 21.2% annual advance, and of the total, 48.3% corresponded to domestic market shares and the remaining 51.6% to the International Quotation System (SIC).

March 7

GRUMA BEATS EXPECTATIONS AND ANNOUNCES NEW INVESTMENTS. (MILENIO ONLINE 0) Gruma beat financial analysts’ expectations at the end of Q420, a year framed by the global economic slowdown due to the health emergency caused by COVID-19, by closing with a solid performance characterized by a higher preference by tortilla consumers worldwide, primarily in the United States and especially among non-Hispanics. Independent analyst Irasema Andrés Dagnini said that its solid results that beat all market estimates have allowed it to continue investing and consolidating its position as one of Mexico’s top global firms. “Today, 74% of Gruma’s net sales come from outside of Mexico, thus favoring its solid results even during high volatility,” she said.

March 8

GRUMA COLLABORATES WITH THE DIF IN OAXACA (MILENIO DIARIO 20) (MILENIO ONLINE 0) (MILENIO ONLINE 0) (TELEDIARIO ONLINE CDMX 0) (MULTIMEDIOS LAGUNA ONLINE (COAHUILA) 0) Gruma, the corn flour producer, partnered with the Oaxaca State Government to open another tortilla-production plant in the State’s System for Integral Family Development (DIF). Ivette Morán de Murat, president of the Oaxaca DIF, used her social media accounts to thank the company for supporting the project by donating machinery for the unit.

March 9 

FINANCIAL SIGNALS. (EL DÍA 2) Green. The list of companies with the highest operating cash flow and net profits include Grupo México (processing of copper, zinc, silver, gold, lead and molybdenum) with 58.3%; followed by Orbia (Piping for construction and infrastructure, irrigation, telecommunications, fluorite, PVC resins) with 38.9%; Genomma Lab (Pharmaceuticals, biotechnology and health sciences) with 29.6%, Cemex (cement) with 24% and Gruma (corn flour, wheat flour tortillas) with 23%.

March 13

GRUMA JOINS EFFORTS TO SUPPORT FARMERS IN BAJA CALIFORNIA. (SDP NOTICIAS.COM ONLINE 0) Grupo Maseca (Gruma) joined the efforts to support farmers in Baja California that decide to plant corn with aid allocated by the State Government for different programs implemented by the Secretariat for Farmland and Food Security (SCSA). The head of the SCSA, Héctor Haros Encinas, recently announced that the demand for white corn for human consumption in the state could surpass 130,000 tons per year, so they recently entered into an agreement withGrumato evaluate different corn seed varieties and hybrids to produce the best seeds that can be adapted to the corn flour production process.

March 16

J.P. MORGAN DOWNGRADES EXPOSURE TO BRAZIL EQUITIES FROM OVERWEIGHT TO NEUTRAL IN ITS LATAM PORTFOLIO; MEXICO IS HIGH (INFOMONEY ONLINE (BRAZIL) 0) J.P. Morgan downgraded Brazilian equities from overweight (above market average) to neutral in its Latin American portfolio, while increasing Mexico’s exposure to an overweight stock rating. JP reduced its exposure in Petrobras and Itaúsa (ITSA4) while increasing its exposure in two Mexican stocks, GCC and Gruma. According to strategists, the bank’s recent upward revisions to U.S. GDP (expected to rise 6.2%) bode well for Mexico (economic activity is expected to increase by 5.6%, with a high bias).

March 19

TOP 10 HISPANIC GROCERY ITEMS AMERICANS BUY

https://abasto.com/noticias/los-10-alimentos-hispanos-que-mas-compran-los-estadounidenses/

The Latino community is changing the country’s demographic landscape and, at the same time, changing the menu of the general population. Once considered novelties, these Hispanic grocery items are becoming the norm in every American household. Tortilla and Maseca (as corn flour is popularly called in Mexico) sales have increased between three and four times, said Guillermo Navarro, manager of the Mi Tierra Latino market in Virginia, in an interview with Al Día News.

March 22

GRUMA AND BIMBO SELL MORE PRODUCTS ABROAD. (EL NORTE ONLINE (NUEVO LEÓN) 0) (REFORMA 1) (REFORMA ONLINE 0) (MURAL ONLINE (JALISCO) 0) The world’s appetite for Gruma tortillas and Bimbo bread is increasingly evident, and the U.S. is their largest market. In 2016, 75% of Gruma sales came outside of Mexico, and the figure had moved forward one percentage point by 2020. The Gruma income report states that the United States is its largest market, which last year contributed MXN 48.956 billion to its bottom line, representing 53% of its total income, which stood at MXN 91.103 billion. In a recent conference call with financial analysts,Gruma CFO Raúl Cavazos Morales noted the company’s progress in different markets, primarily the United States, where they no longer sell just to the Hispanic population but now sell to consumers from different countries living in the U.S.

TORTILLAS ARE NUTRITIONAL AND HEALTHY OPTION FOR THIS LENT SEASON (Sdpnoticias.com) (Milenio.com) In Mexico, close to 65% of tortillas are made with corn flour dough while the rest are made with nixtamalized corn flour, made primarily by Maseca that preserves all nutrients in the nixtamalization process and is made with added folic acid, iron, zinc and a higher concentration of vitamins.

March 25

CONSUMPTION SECTOR WITH A POSITIVE OUTLOOK FOR THIS 2021: BX+. (EL ECONOMISTA 17) (EL ECONOMISTA ONLINE 0) Companies in the food sector have a positive outlook this year and will continue to benefit from the consumption habits that changed with the COVID-19 pandemic, which will be reflected in their performance in the Mexican Stock Exchange (BMV), according to estimates by Ve por Más (BX+). The basic consumer sector in the BMV concentrates companies such as Bachoco, Grupo Lala, Gruma,Grupo Bimbo, Herdez, Arca Continental and Coca-Cola Femsa (KOF). “For Gruma,we anticipate significant growth in domestic and U.S. sales, lower overhead costs and efficiencies that will help improve their financial margins,” said Strategy and Analysis Director Juan Rich at BX+.

THEY CREATE THEIR “OWN ARMY” TO HELP THOSE AFFECTED IN SANTIAGO. (EL HORIZONTE ONLINE (NUEVO LEÓN) 0) The companies that make up the Monterrey Group, better known as the G10, “put on their rescue suits” to help communities affected by the disaster in Santiago, Nuevo León, by collectively donating MXN 2 million to help these families. Promoted by an initiative proposed by civil association Amigos de la Sierra A.C., corporate leaders at Alfa, Cemex, Vitro, Frisa, Gruma,Deacero, Femsa, Soriana, Cydsa, Xignux, Proeza and Lamosa, contributed these funds to execute an action plan with several phases that will benefit at least 500 people who had to be relocated.

March 26

THERE ARE NO TACOS WITHOUT TORTILLAS. (REFORMA 8) There is more than just one type of tortilla; there are many because the most democratic food in Mexico has adapted to its environment and community. People use the corn they have on hand. Thus, in the State of Mexico, you can enjoy popcorn tortillas, while Tlaxcala sells cacahuacintle tortillas, and Oaxaca has tortillas made from little ball corn. “At the end of 1800, the militia traveled with grinders, milling stones and corn to grind their nixtamal and make tortillas to feed the army. “It was super important to find a quick and easy way to do it. This is how dry dough—the origin of the Maseca name—to dehydrate it developed,” says the creator of Cal y Maíz. According to Sotelo, regardless of that fact, Maseca caused a women’s revolution. Before that, women had to get up at four in the morning to make their nixtamal so that men could have the energy they needed to start their day.

March 27

GRUPO MASECA SUPPORTS COMMUNITIES IN OAXACA. (MILENIO ONLINE 0) (SDP NOTICIAS.COM ONLINE 0) The Mexican company Grupo Maseca (Gruma), a world leader in the production of nixtamalized corn flour, tortillas and wraps, donated machinery and nixtamalized corn flour to open a tortilla shop in the System for Integral Family Development (DIF) in Collantes, an Afro-American community in the state of Oaxaca. At the opening ceremony, Ivette Morán de Murat, president of the Oaxaca DIF, thanked Juan González Moreno’s company for joining this project to benefit the families that live in that town. The above permits the creation of direct jobs in the community while also boosting the economy and taking a high-quality product nutritional typical of Mexican cuisine—the tortilla—to the population in this area.