enron mentions enron cuts shareholder equity by 1 . 2 bln usd due to partnership deal afx news , 10 / 18 / 01 calif energy panel oks first step for 1160 mw in projects dow jones energy service , 10 / 18 / 01 usa : enron ' s stock slides as equity reduction digested . reuters english news service , 10 / 18 / 01 brazil ' s copene , elektro plan to sell 820 mln reais of bonds bloomberg , 10 / 18 / 01 enron cuts shareholder equity by 1 . 2 bln usd due to partnership deal 10 / 18 / 2001 afx news ( c ) 2001 by afp - extel news ltd london ( afx ) - enron corp said it has reduced its shareholder equity by 1 . 2 bln usd as the company decided to repurchase 55 mln of its shares that it had issued as part of a series of complex transactions with an investment vehicle connected to its chief financial officer , andrew fastow , the wall street journal reported in its online edition . enron did not disclose the big equity reduction in its earnings release issued on tuesday , when the houston - based energy giant announced a 1 . 01 bln usd charge to third - quarter earnings that produced a 618 mln usd loss . however , the company briefly mentioned it in a subsequent call with security analysts and confirmed it in response to questions yesterday . as a result of the reduction , enron ' s shareholder equity dropped to 9 . 5 bln usd , the company said . in an interview , enron chairman kenneth lay said about 35 mln usd of the 1 . 01 bln usd charge to earnings was related to transactions with ljm 2 co - investment lp , a limited partnership created and run by fastow . in a conference call yesterday with investors , lay said 55 mln shares had been repurchased by enron , as the company " unwound " its participation in the transactions . in the third quarter , the company ' s average number of shares outstanding was 913 mln . according to rick causey , enron ' s chief accounting officer , these shares were contributed to a " structured finance vehicle " set up about two years ago in which enron and ljm 2 were the only investors . in exchange for the stock , the entity provided enron with a note . the aim of the transaction was to provide hedges against fluctuating values in some of enron ' s broadband telecommunications and other technology investments . causey did not elaborate on what form those hedges took . subsequently , both the value of enron ' s stock and the value of the broadband investments hedged by the entity dropped sharply , the report said . as a result , enron decided essentially to dissolve the financing vehicle and reacquire the shares . when enron reacquired the shares , it also canceled the note it had received from the entity . given all the complexities of the ljm - related financing vehicle and the questions it raised outside the company , " the confusion factor wasn ' t worth the trouble of trying to continue this , " causey said . mark palmer , an enron spokesman , described the capital reduction " as just a balance - sheet issue " and therefore was not deemed " material " for disclosure purposes . gc for more information and to contact afx : www . afxnews . com and www . afxpress . com copyright ? 2000 dow jones & company , inc . all rights reserved . calif energy panel oks first step for 1160 mw in projects 10 / 18 / 2001 dow jones energy service ( copyright ( c ) 2001 , dow jones 323 - 658 - 3872 ; jessica . berthold @ dowjones . com copyright ? 2000 dow jones & company , inc . all rights reserved . usa : enron ' s stock slides as equity reduction digested . 10 / 18 / 2001 reuters english news service ( c ) reuters limited 2001 . houston , oct 18 ( reuters ) - enron corp . stock fell sharply on thursday as investors digested news of a $ 1 . 2 billion reduction in the energy giant ' s shareholder equity that attracted little attention when it was first disclosed earlier this week . in afternoon trading enron ' s stock was off $ 2 . 96 or , 9 . 2 percent at $ 29 . 24 per share . enron reported its first quarterly loss in over four years on tuesday after taking charges of $ 1 . 01 billion against earnings to cover expenses and writedowns on investments that fall outside its core wholesale energy operations . the reduction in shareholder equity was not mentioned in the company ' s earnings statement but was discussed by chairman and chief executive ken lay in an earnings conference call with analysts and investors on tuesday . " confidence has been shaken by the incremental disclosure . this is an extremely widely held stock and to assume that everybody listened to the conference call is probably asking too much , " said one analyst who asked not to be identified . the reduction in equity was prominently reported in the wall street journal on thursday , bringing it to the attention of a wider audience , analysts said . lay said the equity writedown and a corresponding reduction in the number of enron shares outstanding were related to the early termination of structured finance arrangements which had drawn criticism from some wall street analysts . as a result of the operation , enron ' s debt to total capitalization ratio will rise to about 50 percent , but the company expects the proceeds of asset sales to reduce the ratio to around 40 percent by the end of next year , lay said . moody ' s investor service said earlier this week that it had placed all of enron ' s long - term debt obligations on review for a possible downgrade because writedowns and charges had substantially reduced valuations for several enron businesses . some of enron ' s financing arrangements require the company to maintain investment grade credit ratings . copyright ? 2000 dow jones & company , inc . all rights reserved . brazil ' s copene , elektro plan to sell 820 mln reais of bonds 2001 - 10 - 18 13 : 53 ( new york ) rio de janeiro , oct . 18 ( bloomberg ) - - two brazilian companies have asked securities regulators for permission to sell 820 million reais ( $ 279 million ) of bonds , raising the amount of pending local market bond sales to 7 . 5 billion reais . brazil ' s copene - petroquemica do nordeste sa , a petrochemical company , has asked brazil ' s government for permission to sell 625 million reais of bonds according to the country ' s security and exchange regulator , the cvm . banco citibank sa , the brazilian unit of citigroup inc . , will manage the sale . elektro eletricidade e servicos sa , an electricity utility controlled by u . s . - based enron corp . that distributes electricity in sao paulo state , has asked for permission to sell 195 million reais of bonds , according to a cvm filing . no further details about the sales was immediately available . brazilian companies have scrambled to sell debt at home as the local currency , the real , plunges against the dollar , making dollar - denominated debt expensive and causing losses to mount as the local currency value of dollar debts soars . so far this year , about 9 . 1 billion reais of local market debt has been sold . meanwhile corporate bond sales in euros or dollars has slipped by almost two thirds to $ 1 . 7 billion in the third quarter from $ 4 . 5 billion in the second , not including sales through offshore subsidiaries , according to bloomberg data .