Banks close their 12 billion reais loan proposal to Correios, which awaits Treasury approval

BRASÍLIA – A group of five banks has closed a proposal to lend 12 billion reais to Email. The public company is still waiting for the documentation to be sent, which could take place by the end of this Friday the 12th.

The proposal will be further analyzed by the National Treasurewho must be guarantor of the operation. Caixa, Banco do Brasil, Bradesco, Itaú and Santander are expected to participate in the deal.

The company accumulates loss of 6.05 billion reais from January to September this year and is looking for resources to rebalance the accounts. Since 2022, the public company’s losses have reached 10 billion reais.

Negotiations gained momentum after Entry of Caixa Econômica Federal into the list of institutions ready to lend resourcesas expected by State column.

At the beginning of the month, the Treasury rejected a loan of 20 billion reaisamount initially claimed by the public company, after five banks charged interest of 136% on the interbank certificate of deposit (CDI) of the operation. The organization understood that interest should remain within the ceiling of 120% of the CDI set by the Treasury Guarantees Committee.

With this loan, the company intends to repay a debt of 1.8 billion reais, pay late suppliers, in addition to financing a voluntary dismissal program (PDV) and making investments to try to recover space in the parcel market and develop new sources of income.

This week, the Minister of Finance, Fernando Haddad, said negotiations were advanced and there was a chance the government would make a contribution to the state-owned companybut this possibility would remain within the budgetary framework.

“One way is the contribution that might be necessary if we cannot reach an agreement with the pool banks which will finance the restructuring of the company. We are not going to end up with a knife around our neck because of a misunderstanding on the part of one financial institution or another,” he said.

According to him, the whole world has found a solution to maintain essential public services without privatizing companies. The solution was to add other services besides postal services, such as financial products, pensions and insurance.

In the midst of a crisis, the Lula government issued a decree so that non-dependent public companies experiencing operational difficulties can present an economic-financial rebalancing plan, including the possibility of future financing from the Treasury.

“The new mechanism creates a structured pathway for federal public enterprises to address cyclical challenges without being immediately reclassified as dependent on the National Treasury,” the Ministry of Management said in a note.

To return to profit in 2027, Correios will have to go through a restructuring which requires an adjustment of between BRL 6 and 8 billion in its annual budget, between spending reductions and revenue increases. According to sources close to the state-owned company, this is a rough figure compared to what the company’s current management is working on and is considered extremely difficult by analysts.

But from 2027, the objective is to return to profit, as the company’s president, Emmanoel Rondon, declared during a press conference in mid-October. The company will therefore have to act on both fronts to rebalance: reduce expenses and increase revenues.

An adjustment between BRL 6 billion and BRL 8 billion is complex, given the expected savings of BRL 1.4 billion with the Voluntary dismissal program (PDV), for 15 thousand employees announced by the public company, as revealed by Stadium.

As expected by EstadãoCorreios postponed the hiring of successful candidates for the 2024 competition, which will not take place until 2027.