After hitting an all-time low on Tuesday, October 1, the ADR traded on Nasdaq by Net Serviços de Comunicação (NETC) rebounded 83.33% from $0.60 to $1.10. This was the ADR?s fastest intraday rally ever, reflecting Net?s volatility since its market cap fell to just over $30 million. On the São Paulo Stock Exchange (Bovespa) the company?s shares performed badly on the day, closing down 7.69% on 0.24 Brazilian Reals for a year-to-date loss of 97%. Analysts paint the following picture of Net?s woes:
1) After a major restructuring effort that reduced debt to 1.1 billion BRL and raised enough cash to weather 2003, Net all but ran aground on 36.9% depreciation of the BRL against the US Dollar in the third quarter, bumping up its debt by almost 400m BRL. To make matters worse, it?s increasingly hard to hedge the debt against exchange-rate risk for lack of funds to cover margin calls on futures and swaps.
2) The dearer dollar is hindering the expansion of Vírtua, Net?s broadband Internet service, blocking the addition of new subscribers because equipment is almost entirely priced in foreign currency. Vírtua has had to delay installations in recent weeks, as has Speedy, Telefonica?s ADSL service.
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