Returns on Americanas stock funds drop as much as 9.5% two days after discovery of accounting breach

The hemorrhage seen in Americanas (AMER3) shares in recent days has been reflected in funds with exposure to the company’s shares. Looking at the returns, you can see that the losses reached 9.5% between January 11th and January 13th. The survey was carried out by Economatica at the request of Money info. Last week, shares of the company fell another 70%.

The negative profitability is the result of the discovery of “accounting mismatches” in the R$20 billion company, but the documents sent to the Court show that the estimated gross debt could reach R$40 billion.

At the top of the list of the most penalized funds is Lato Ações FIA, of Lato Capital, which recorded a drop of 9.44% between 11 and 13 January. The survey is by Economics.

The data available in the study shows that almost 5% of the fund’s equity was allocated to the company’s shares through a long position, ie betting on the appreciation of the shares. The data dates back to September 2022.

InfoMoney tried to get in touch with the manager to find out if the house still held positions in the shares, but was unable to speak to the house’s managers.

Next, the biggest drop was recorded by Moat Capital’s Moat Brasilprev Fife FIA, down 9.31%. According to the Economatica study, the percentage assigned to the company’s shares corresponded to 12.69% of the fund’s net assets as of September 2022.

In a statement, Moat Capital said it closed all of its funds’ positions in Lojas Americanas common stock. The house also stressed that it will do everything to “protect our rights to losses while we were minority shareholders”.

The third largest contraction was for Rio Assets FIA, from XP, at 9.24%. Portfolio data for September shows the fund had 9.63% of its net assets in corporate stocks.

The study looked at multi-market and equity funds with a position in the company’s stock, through stocks, options or futures contracts in September of last year. Funds with an allocation of more than 90% of the portfolio in Americanas securities between September and December 2022 were eliminated.

Among the funds classified as free shares by the Brazilian Association of Financial Entities and Capital Markets (Anbima), it can be noted that the median profitability between the 11th and 13th ranks reached -0.45%, against of a negative return of 1.42% on Ibovespa (the reference index for this asset class).

One of the hypotheses to obtain a slightly better performance than that of Ibovespa is that the equity funds could have a low exposure to the shares of the retailer or that a good part of the products currently have more dispersed portfolios.

In the case of funds classified as multimarket by Anbima, the midpoint of return between 11th and 13th was negative at 0.51%, against 0.10% of the CDI (reference rate in this asset class) In the period.

Observing the losses recorded in recent days, Rodrigo Sgavioli, Clara Sodré and Nathália de Sá, of XP, reiterate, in a report, the need to adopt a prudent attitude to avoid large portfolio movements that could damage the portfolio in the long-term maturity .

“We recommend continuing with a diversified portfolio, seeking both quantitative and qualitative information and data that lead to ever greater conviction in relation to the funds allocated in the portfolio”, they point out.

For them, more than ever, it is important to look for actively managed funds where the manager is responsible for setting positions with the aim of mitigating the negative effects of declining share prices.

Americans stop paying interest on a number of bonds

In addition to the impact on the company’s stock, the company’s debt has come under investor attention in recent days as the outlook for the retailer deteriorates.

This Tuesday (17), for example, Americanas (AMER3) communicated that it has stopped paying interest on the 17th bond issue. The payment was to be made on Monday (16th), according to the material fact signed by the CEO, João Guerra.

The document in question has the code LAMEA7, according to information available on the website of the Brazilian Association of Financial and Capital Market Entities (Anbima). The bond is pegged to the CDI (reference fixed income rate) and the bonds were issued in July 2022. At the time, the funding amounted to R $ 2 billion.

In the document, the company informed that the measure is a consequence of the decision issued by the 4th commercial court of the Court of Justice of Rio de Janeiro (TJRJ). On Friday (13), Judge Paulo Assed granted an urgent protective measure at the request of Americanas against the early maturity of debts.

The decision gave the company breathing room to face an unprecedented crisis after announcing an accounting deficit of R$20 billion, which could reach R$40 billion. Additionally, following the decision, the TJRJ gave Americanas 30 consecutive days to file for judicial recovery.

According to the document, in the light of what emerges from the Court’s decision, the enforceability of the interests envisaged by article 4.2.2 of the deed of the 17th bond issue by the company is “suspended”.

Worsening of the credit risk rating

After the discovery of “accounting mismatches” in the company’s balance sheet last week, the credit risk rating (assessment) of the branch retailer has deteriorated a lot.

This Tuesday (17), the risk rating agency Fitch Ratings again downgraded the credit rating of Americanas (AMER3), this time from “CC” to “C”, after the retailer obtained a court order which protects it for 30 days from the early maturity of the debt, a term that the retailer can use to reach an agreement with creditors or file for judicial recovery.

“In the event Americanas formally announces a restructuring plan, ratings will be downgraded to ‘RD’ to reflect a default [calote] limited or ‘D’ if the company files for bankruptcy,” Fitch said in a report. The agency had already downgraded Americanas’ rating on Friday (13) after the announcement of accounting mismatches.

Fitch says Americanas’ capital structure is considered unsustainable with an estimated R$20 billion increase in new liabilities, as announced by the company a few days ago.

This number, he added, compares with BRL 3.2 billion in Ebitda over the 12-month period and BRL 15.4 billion in equity at the end of September 2022. “The announced additional liabilities nearly doubled Fitch’s calculation of the company’s adjusted net debt to BRL 46 billion, from BRL 26 billion”.

The agency also said that Americanas’ “unsustainable capital structure and damaged reputation” seriously undermine its financial flexibility and ability to manage operational and financial obligations. “The support of lenders will be essential to improve its flexibility.”

Operationally, Americanas may struggle to retain some of its current suppliers, Fitch said. “A timely injection of physical capital to avoid default is extremely crucial, even if uncertain. Americanas’ ability to raise cash through asset sales and divestments will be tested and could minimize creditor losses.”

Previously, the risk rating agency S&P Global Ratings downgraded Americanas in its global and country credit ratings to “D”, from default (default).

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