Firms Under Brazil's EBX Marquee Postpone Earnings Following Bankruptcy Filings

By Luciana Magalhaes

SAO PAULO--Companies controlled by troubled Brazilian entrepreneur Eike Batista have postponed quarterly earnings releases, initially expected for this week, while their balance sheets are reviewed by an independent auditing firm.

Mr. Batista's EBX group communicated its decision via a series of regulatory filings Tuesday night and Wednesday morning.

The delay follows recent court filings by two of the EBX companies for protection from creditors under Brazilian bankruptcy laws. The two companies are oil and gas producer OGX Petroleo e Gas Participacoes SA (OGXP3.BR) and shipbuilder OSX Brasil SA (OSXB3.BR).

"Their numbers are going to be very ugly," said Pedro Galdi, an investment analyst at Brazilian brokerage SLW. "We can hardly expect anything else from them." Mr. Galdi said he is no longer following Mr. Batista's firms, as some of them now attract only speculators.

Mr. Batista saw his personal wealth collapse as a result of the financial and operational troubles faced by his group of start-up firms. One of the richest men in the world just over a year ago, with an estimated fortune of more than $30 billion, Mr. Batista is now rushing to try to save at least some pieces of his indebted group.

All his publicly traded companies, including ones that have already sold assets, trade in the red against the last 12 months and some are now penny stocks.

Mr. Batista's oil firm, once the heart of his infrastructure empire, filed for bankruptcy last month, with $3.6 billion in international bonds outstanding.

OGX was originally set to release quarterly results on Wednesday but will now have them out by Nov. 22, according to the regulatory filing. In the second quarter, OGX posted a loss of some $2 billion amid disappointing production levels that led the company to discontinue development of most of its oil fields.

Shipbuilder OSX, which filed for court protection last Monday, said it expects to have its quarterly numbers sent out to Brazil's regulator by November 25. OSX's quarterly results were originally expected to be released Thursday. The company posted a loss of some $64.5 million in the second quarter.

Mr. Batista's mining firm MMX Mineracao e Metalicos SA (MMXM3.BR), which hasn't sought court protection, also said the release of its quarterly numbers is now expected by Nov. 25, due to the independent auditing process as well as the review of its business plan. MMX posted a loss of some $190 million in the second quarter.

MMX recently signed a definitive agreement to sell a majority stake in a port in the south of Rio de Janeiro state to Abu Dhabi's Mubadala Development Co., already a big investor in Mr. Batista's industrial group, and Dutch international commodity trader Trafigura Group for $400 million.

Local electric power utility Eneva SA, former MPX Energia SA, co-controlled by Germany's E.ON SE (EOAN.XE) and Mr. Batista, has kept its original release date. It is expected to file its quarterly report Wednesday after the Brazilian financial markets close.

Write to Luciana Magalhaes at [e-mail]