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MANAGER: BENJAMIN STEINBRUCH (int'l edition)Benjamin Steinbruch strides into his Sao Paulo office looking as if he has just received unpleasant news. ''Man, what a day,'' says the chairman of three of Brazil's most important companies, shaking his head. Stock markets from New York to Frankfurt are plummeting, and the Brazilian index is down nearly 10% for the session. ''It's a panic. A massacre,'' Steinbruch says. In an adjacent office, a U.S. stock analyst is briefing Steinbruch's subordinates on market volatility. Steinbruch stretches his ear toward the door to listen. The 45-year-old Steinbruch, Brazil's preeminent tycoon, doesn't like what he's hearing. Two of the companies he runs, mining giant Companhia Vale do Rio Doce (CVRD) and steelmaker Companhia Siderurgica Nacional (CSN), are dependent on slumping commodity markets. The stock of Steinbruch's third company, Rio de Janeiro electric utility Light, is down 70% this year. Steinbruch's principal goal is to harden his companies to make sure they can survive and prosper through the volatility that has become a permanent feature of Latin American economies. ''Prepare for war,'' he says. ''In this kind of environment, you have to keep cutting costs and try to preserve your cash liquidity.'' Since taking the helm at CVRD in May, 1997, Steinbruch has chopped payroll from 16,000 to 11,000 by offering workers voluntary retirement programs. CVRD's net profit for the first half of 1998 more than doubled, to $460 million, from the same period last year. Steinbruch has been one of the big winners in Latin American privatization. He took the leading role in groups that won the auction for CSN in 1993, Light in 1996, and CVRD last year. On top of all that, Steinbruch is involved in managing Vicunha, a family textiles and telecoms group. Now, he seems to relish taking a hands-on approach to his various companies. His bet: If he can significantly boost efficiency during a period of hardship, his companies will emerge as winners when the markets bounce back.
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Updated Oct. 15, 1998 by bwwebmaster
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