Brazilian homebuilder MRV posts Q4 rise in sales, eyes IPO in NY

SAO PAULO — Brazil’s homebuilder MRV&co reported on Monday that the value of fourth-quarter project launches jumped 52.4% from a year earlier while sales rose 18%, led by AHS Residential, the group unit in the United States.

Rafael Menin, the company’s co-president, told Reuters MRV was on track with plans for an initial public offering in the United States in 2023.

According to an operational preview, the company posted 2.4 billion reais ($434.56 million) in net sales in the period. Its total launches reached a value of 3.2 billion reais, up 52.4% from the fourth quarter of 2020.

Florida-based unit AHS Residential saw a 184% jump in sales in the fourth quarter, while low-income unit MRV dropped 16.2% year-on-year. In launches, MRV was practically stable in the quarter and AHS went from zero to 1 billion reais.

This profile of results should continue this year, Menin said. He said the slow Brazilian economy would probably limit the recovery of its core business, which should continue to pressure its gross margin.

The prospect of AHS’s growing participation in the group’s consolidated earnings is reinforcing its plan to make an initial public offering (IPO) in the United States in 2023, Menin said, given the liquidity of the New York stock market.

This will also allow greater comparability with companies in the same sector in the global environment, he said.

“We have this business, AHS, which is not yet adequately priced by the market, in our opinion. A listing in the United States can unlock value,” he added.

($1 = 5.5228 reais) (Reporting by Aluisio Alves; Writing by Peter Frontini Editing by Paul Simao and David Gregorio)