BRF, Arezzo, COPOM, Santander and the week’s agenda in Brazil

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The coming week foresees important events for investors in the corporate field and in economic decisions. The fourth quarter earnings season starts in Brazil with figures from Santander (SANB11) and Cielo (CIEL3), while BRF (BRFS3) and Arezzo (ARZZ3) set the prices of their follow-ons.

On Wednesday, February 2, the Central Bank’s Monetary Policy Committee (COPOM) announces its decision on the basic interest rate for the first meeting of 2022.

On Friday, February 4, the U.S. non-farm payroll numbers for January will be released, as well as the unemployment rate.

Monday, January 31:
Agribusiness company 3tentos (TTEN3) prices the stock of its subsequent primary offering in which it intends to raise R$4.4 million (US$820,000). The goal is to increase the liquidity and trading volume of its shares on B3.

Tuesday, February 1:
BRF prices what could be the largest offering of the year, now that Petrobras (PETR3, PETR4) and Novonor (ex-Odebrecht) have given up on the Braskem (BRKM5) follow-on for the time being.

The meat giant intends to issue up to 325 million shares, which would represent an offer of R$7.4 billion at last Friday’s price, January 28.

In the United States, Alphabet (Google’s holding company) will release its fourth quarter results after the market closes.

Wednesday, February 2:
Santander Brazil kicks off the season of fourth quarter results of the country’s largest companies with the release in the morning, before the market opens. At 10 AM, it will hold a conference call with analysts.

On the same day, after the market closes, it will be Cielo’s turn.

Also on Wednesday, the COPOM (Monetary Policy Committee) will announce its decision about the interest rate, along with a statement reading the conjuncture and expectations for inflation. Market consensus points to a new 1.5 percentage point (150 basis points) increase in the SELIC rate, which would rise from 9.25% to 10.75% per year.

Thursday, February 3:
Another follow-on will be in investors’ sights with the pricing of Arezzo’s offer, which intends to raise up to R$830 million. According to information from Brazil Journal, the footwear and clothing company has enough demand to move forward with the offer, although its definition and the additional lot of shares are still pending.

On the same day, at 11:30 AM, Cielo will hold a conference call in Portuguese with analysts for executives to comment on the fourth quarter results and expectations for the coming months.

It will also be the day of the year’s first European Central Bank (ECB) monetary policy committee meeting. Unlike its peer in the United States, the Federal Reserve, the ECB is expected to keep interest rates unchanged near zero in the coming months, according to the consensus of market expectations.

After the market closes, Amazon will release its fourth quarter results.

Friday, February 4:
Eneva (ENEV3) shareholders will hold an Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM) to vote on the proposed purchase of Focus Energia (POWE3), which will broaden the company’s activities in renewable sources. The deal was announced in mid-December 2021, for R$960 million.

It will also be the day to learn the job creation data for the American economy in January. Wall Street projections point to the creation of 155,000 jobs, down from 190,000 in December.