Failure To Upgrade Brazil's Rail System Ahead Of Cup Driving Bus Sales For Marcopolo

Brazil’s failure to upgrade its rail system in time for the 2014 World Cup is "giving a boost" to the country's biggest bus maker Marcopolo SA, according to Christiana Sciaudone of BLOOMBERG. Plans to build integrated metro, light rail and bus systems are being scaled back in "at least half of the 12 cities set to host games amid construction delays and cost overruns." Victoire Brasil Investimentos research analyst Bruno Wittmaack said that local governments are "falling back on buses" to transport sports fans because they are easier and cheaper, helping to fuel a 56% rally in the past 12 months for Marcopolo, which has 45% of Brazil’s market for the vehicles. Marcopolo will soon start delivering more buses for World Cup projects, “which we hope this year and in the first half of 2013 will have an enormous repercussion in terms of volume,” CEO Jose Rubens de la Rosa said on a Feb. 22 conference call to discuss earnings (BLOOMBERG, 2/26).