Alpek Tumbles in Mexico After Fourth-Quarter Profit Plunges

Alpek SAB, the publicly traded petrochemical unit of Mexican holding company Alfa SAB, fell to a seven-month low after profit plunged 60 percent in the fourth quarter and the company forecast declining sales in 2013.

Alpek sank 3.8 percent to 28.22 pesos at the close of trading in Mexico City. Alfa fell 4.8 percent.

The San Pedro Garza Garcia-based petrochemical maker cited “challenging dynamics” for exports as it forecast a 4 percent decline in revenue this year and an 11 percent drop in earnings before interest, taxes, amortization and depreciation, a measure of profit known as Ebitda. Alpek got 65 percent of its sales from abroad in the third quarter, according to the most recent data compiled by Bloomberg.

Fernando Bolanos, an analyst with Monex Casa de Bolsa SA in Mexico City, cut his price target on the shares by 19 percent to 34 pesos. Bolanos said in a note to clients that the company’s sales would probably fall 4.8 percent this year while Ebitda would tumble 13 percent. He previously forecast 7.5 percent sales growth and 6.3 percent Ebitda growth.

Alpek’s profit declined to $30 million in the final three months of 2012 and revenue fell 2.9 percent to $1.67 billion.

To contact the reporters on this story: Danielle Verbrigghe in New York at dverbrigghe@bloomberg.net; Brendan Case in Mexico City at bcase4@bloomberg.net

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