Grupo Mexico withdraws proposed Asarco/Southern Copper merger

Grupo Mexico withdrew its proposal to combine the operations of its subsidiary companies Asarco and Southern Copper yesterday. The conglomerate made the announcement in its third-quarter 2011 financial reports: "Asarco's assets are operating at full capacity in the U.S., the jurisdiction with the lowest country risk," said Grupo Mexico. "The results for its operations have been better than expected; which are expected to report an EBITDA in excess of US$800 million for 2011. Grupo Mexico has reported a net income of $693.2 million for this third-quarter 2011, a 73.9% increase over the net income reported for third-quarter earnings in 2010. Cumulative net earnings of $1.9 billion were reported during the first nine months of this year, up 75.8% from same reporting period last year.