Vivo Falls to 11-Month Low After Profit Drops: Sao Paulo Mover

Telefonica Brasil SA (VIVT4), Brazil’s largest phone company by revenue, dropped to an 11-month low after profit fell as customers canceled fixed-line service.

Shares retreated 1.5 percent to 45.50 reais at the close in Sao Paulo, the lowest price since Aug. 12. It was the worst performer on the MSCI Brazil/Telecommunication Services Index (MXBR0TC), which lost 0.8 percent.

Second-quarter earnings fell 5.6 percent to 1.09 billion reais ($536 million) as income from fixed-line service declined 12 percent. Sales rose 0.2 percent to 8.24 billion reais, trailing the 8.49 billion reais average estimate of nine analysts surveyed by Bloomberg.

“Net income really disappointed, especially in the fixed- line business,” Felipe Rocha, an analyst at Omar Camargo Corretora, said by phone from Curitiba, Brazil. “Everybody now tends to use mobile phones more than fixed, and this is impacting Vivo’s results.”

Vivo is the brand under which Telefonica is reorganizing all its mobile, fixed telephone, cable TV and Internet services.

The stock has fallen 12 percent this year, while the benchmark Bovespa equity index slipped 7.3 percent.

To contact the reporter on this story: Denyse Godoy in Sao Paulo at dgodoy2@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: David Papadopoulos at papadopoulos@bloomberg.net