Braskem, Expected to Resume Trading on NYSE This Week, Nominates New Board Chairman

   By Maria Armental 
 

Brazilian petrochemical company Braskem SA's director Roberto Lopes Pontes Simões is slated to take over as board chairman, the company said Monday.

Mr. Simões's appointment, succeeding fellow Odebrecht SA appointee Marcelo Moses de Oliveira Lyrio, would open up a seat on the board.

A shareholders' meeting to formalize the appointment & elect a new director is yet to be scheduled.

São Paulo-based Braskem has been trying to move on from its involvement in a sprawling corruption investigation known as Car Wash that enmeshed its owners: Brazilian construction conglomerate Odebrecht, the controlling shareholder, and Brazilian oil company Petróleo Brasileiro SA, or Petrobras.

Braskem's American depositary receipts are expected to resume trading on the New York Stock Exchange under its old ticker BAK this week.

The company's ADRs had been trading in New York over the counter since the company failed to meet a deadline to file annual financial disclosure forms with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Braskem has since filed the forms and remediated a series of material weaknesses, including in its anti-corruption compliance program and controls and so-called "tone at the top" shortcomings.

Braskem reported a profit of R$2.87 billion ($740.2 million) for 2018, compared with R$3.92 million for 2017 and a net loss of R$729.2 million for 2016, according to securities filings.

Net revenue, meanwhile, fell to R$11.57 billion ($2.99 billion) in 2018 from R$13.08 billion in 2017 and R$12.68 billion in 2016.

In the most recent financial forms filed with the SEC, Braskem noted the possibility of a change in control, given Odebrecht's bankruptcy filing and its attempt to sell its Braskem stake to petrochemicals giant LyondellBasell Industries NV.

Write to Maria Armental at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

October 21, 2019 19:18 ET (23:18 GMT)

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