BM&FBovespa Falls to Ten-Week Low as Earnings Miss Estimates

BM&FBovespa SA, the operator of Latin America’s biggest securities exchange, fell to a ten-week low after reporting a fourth-quarter profit that trailed analysts’ estimates.

Shares dropped 2.8 percent to 13.15 reais at the close of trading in Sao Paulo, the lowest since Dec. 7. Trading volume was 2.3 times the three-month average, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The Bovespa index declined 2 percent.

Fourth-quarter adjusted net income rose 7.6 percent to 379.4 million reais ($193.4 million) from the same period a year earlier, the company said yesterday in a regulatory filing. The average estimate of six analysts surveyed by Bloomberg was for a profit of 396.2 million reais. Expenses rose 46.5 percent from the previous quarter to 256 million reais as costs related to health benefits to employees climbed.

“Although impacted by non-recurring items, expenses were the main negative highlight,” Francisco Kops, an analyst at Banco J. Safra in Sao Paulo, wrote in a note to clients. “We expect a negative reaction on shares.”

BM&FBovespa has climbed 12 percent in the past year while the Bovespa benchmark index has fallen 15 percent.

To contact the reporter on this story: Julia Leite in New York at jleite3@bloomberg.net

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