Sao Paulo’s Sabesp Reports 39% Drop in Second-Quarter Net Income

Cia. de Saneamento Basico do Estado de Sao Paulo, known as Sabesp and Brazil’s biggest water utility, reported a 39 percent drop in second-quarter profit, mainly due to currency exchange variations.

Earnings per share also fell by the same amount for the period ending June 30 from a year ago, Sao Paulo-based Sabesp said yesterday in a statement. Sabesp serves almost 28 million people.

Sabesp said net operating revenue rose 5.8 percent to 2.48 billion reais ($1.23 billion) compared with the year-earlier quarter and that the government of South America’s largest city had authorized a 5.15 percent rise in water and sewage rates effective Sept. 11. Brazil is the world’s second-biggest developing economy.

The shares of the world’s fourth-largest sanitation company in terms of customers have climbed 73 percent this year compared with a 4.5 percent gain by the Bovespa index.

To contact the reporter on this story: Randall Hackley in Zurich at rhackley@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Randall Hackley at rhackley@bloomberg.net