Vitro Places Share Buyback Bid

Mexican glassmaker Vitro said recently that it was tendering a bid to buy back a tranche of its own shares held in trust following its divestment in conglomerate Cydsa. In a statement to the Mexican Stock Exchange (BMV), Vitro said it wished to buy back the 10.62m shares held, which account for 2.95% of its 360m outstanding shares. The move came after management's evaluation of the impact on the firm's financial statements of the reduction in market price of Vitro's shares since late 1997. In the second quarter, Vitro suffered a Pso 682m shortfall, due to the loss in value of its shares held in trust. Analysts had reportedly urged the company to cancel those shares before having to take further charges in coming quarters. (whole item)