The BRL 20 billion shortfall on Americanas, the failure that caused air chaos in the US and what matters in the market

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Bomb in Americanas

The Americanas group released a revealing fact after the end of trading this Wednesday (11) that fell like a bomb on the market.

The company’s president, Sergio Rial, and investor relations director, André Covre, who took over on the 2nd, resigned after finding “inconsistencies” in BRL 20 billion on the company’s balance sheet.

• At the time, the retailer’s shares soared 22% the day after the appointment of the experienced executive, considered one of the most prepared in the country and who would play an important role in the company’s restructuring.

• Rial will continue as adviser to Americanas’ reference shareholders, the 3G Capital fund, to billionaires Jorge Paulo Lemann, Beto Sicupira and Marcel Telles.

the relevant fact it does not provide many details, but says that “inconsistencies were detected in accounting entries reducing the supplier account made in previous years, including 2022”.

“The company’s accounting area identified the existence of purchase financing operations in amounts of the same order above [R$ 20 bilhões]in which the company is indebted to financial institutions and which are not adequately reflected in the suppliers account in the financial statements”.

The company still estimates that “the cash effect of these inconsistencies is immaterial”. That is, it is an accounting effect, not a financial one (money should not come out of cash to cover the shortfall).

• The company’s market value revolves around BRL 11 billion. In the third quarter, the company’s equity was R$ 14 billion.

market sources heard by reporter Daniele Madureira state that the area of ​​suppliers is always the most problematic in retail companies.

• It is where, according to these sources, separate negotiations and illegal acts take place, such as favoring some suppliers, in exchange for advantages for some executives.

The company announced that the board of directors has appointed João Guerra, from the area of ​​technology and human resources, as president and director of interim investor relations.

The board will create an independent committee to investigate the circumstances that led to the aforementioned “accounting inconsistencies”.

Hours of air chaos in the US

Passengers experienced a morning of chaos at US airports on Wednesday. All departures were suspended from 9:00 am to 11:00 am (Brasília time) due to a failure in the Notam communication system.

By mid-afternoon, the breakdown had caused delays in more than 8,000 flightsand at least 1,100 were cancelled.

Understand: Notam (Notice to Air Missions) works with short bulletins, which resemble a telegram. They communicate codes that are easily understood by professionals in the field.

• Alerts are issued by airports and aviation authorities and may bring different warnings.

• Examples are warnings about reductions in runway length due to works, radio system failures in an area, military exercises that impact airspace, birds flying in flocks, among others.

The White House said there was no evidence that the flaw was caused by a hacker attack, and that the causes of the problem were being investigated.

In Brazil, the impacts were small. Azul registered delays in the take-off of two flights, while the planes of Gol and Latam Brasil left on schedule.

More about the airline industry

TAP crew announced a stoppage from the 25th to the 31st of January. During the December strike, the company canceled flights scheduled for the period.

Minimum should be R$ 1,302

The government of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) should hold the additional adjustment of the minimum wage previously foreseen and keep the floor at BRL 1,302.

Understand: the government’s idea was to raise the value to BRL 1,320and there was even BRL 6.8 billion reserved in the Budget for this.

• The current value, of R$ 1,302, still fixed in the Jair Bolsonaro (PL) government, represents a real increase (above inflation) of 1.5% over the minimum wage last year, because inflation has lost strength since the sending of the Budget proposal, in August 2021.

The political counterpart suggested by Lula’s team is to speed up discussions on a permanent policy to increase the minimum wage, which takes GDP growth plus inflation into account.

Layoffs reach other sectors

The current wave of layoffs caused by high interest rates and an economic slowdown is not restricted to technology companies.

• this wednesdayCVC, one of the main companies in the tourism sector, laid off around 100 professionals, or 5% of its staff, in the process of internal restructuring.

Which explains: in an environment of higher interest rates and lower revenue forecasts, companies change their investment and spending estimates that had been made in a more positive scenario.

Other side:

• CVC said that “adjustments were made in areas such as IT, with the reduction of third parties in the area, and in support areas, due to the integration of businesses with the acquisition of companies”.

• The Guararapes group stated that the dismissed employees will receive an extension of the health plan for double the prior notice, an additional half-floor salary and industrial sewing machines were donated to the seamstresses.