Tortilla Profits Lead Gruma to Mull Dividend: Corporate Mexico
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Gruma SAB, the world’s biggest tortilla maker, is handing shareholders the biggest gains in Latin America as surging profits lead the company to consider paying a dividend for the first time in five years.
Shares more than doubled this year as operating income rose 79 percent after Gruma increased prices and reduced 3,000 jobs. The San Pedro Garza Garcia, Mexico-based company used cash to reduce total debt 12 percent to 17.6 billion pesos ($1.4 billion), prompting Fitch Ratings to boost its credit rating this month to BB+, the highest since 2008. Corn futures have plunged 38 percent in U.S. markets in 2013, cutting the price of the ingredient on which the company spends the most.