Caracas, May 8 (<a href=quote.bloomberg.com>Bloomberg) -- CA Nacional Telefonos de Venezuela, the country's largest telephone company, said its first- quarter net income dropped 74 percent as a nationwide strike and recession slashed revenue.

Income totaled 10.5 billion bolivars ($7 million), or 94 bolivars an American depositary receipt, compared with year-ago profit of 39.8 billion bolivars, or 354 bolivars an ADR.

Nacional Telefonos said revenue from operations fell 10.4 percent to 648.2 billion bolivars from 723.4 billion bolivars.

The company, which is 28.5 percent-owned by Verizon Communications Inc., said total financial debt fell 14 percent to 393.1 billion bolivars. The company made debt payments of 66.5 billion bolivars during the quarter.

Data revenue rose 45 percent, while Internet revenue rose 20 percent. Wireless subscribers fell 0.8 percent during the quarter. Last Updated: May 8, 2003 08:15 EDT

Reuters, 05.07.03, 4:18 PM ET

CARACAS, Venezuela, May 7 (Reuters) - Car sales in Venezuela fell by 47 percent in April compared with a year ago, the Venezuelan Automobile Chamber (CAVENEZ) reported on Wednesday.

A total of 4,269 cars were sold last month compared with 8,034 in April of 2002. March auto sales in the world's fifth largest oil exporter totaled 4,664.

Sales during the first four months of 2003 fell 70 percent to 17,145 compared with 56,328 during the January to April period in 2002.

Car sales have dropped as Venezuela has struggled with a deep recession and political instability. A two-month general strike in December and January battered sales further and tight currency curbs introduced in February have also cut into business.

The companies affiliated with CAVENEZ are DaimlerChrysler AG's (nyse: DCX - news - people)<DCXGn.DE> DaimlerChrysler de Venezuela, Fiat SpA's <FIA.MI> Fiat Automobiles, Fiat affiliate IVECO Venezuela, FordMotor Co. (nyse: DCX - news - people), General Motors Corp.'s (nyse: DCX - news - people) General Motors de Venezuela, Mitsubishi Motors Corp.'s <7211.T> MMC Automotriz and Toyota Motor Corp.'s <7203.T> Toyota de Venezuela.

The figures represent the total vehicle sales in Venezuela, and also include car models made by non-members of CAVENEZ, suchas Mazda Motor Corp. <7261.T> and Volkswagen AG <VOWG.DE>.

<a href=reuters.com>Reuters, Wed May 7, 2003 02:48 PM ET (The followng statement was released by the rating agency)

NEW YORK, May 7 - Moody's Investors Service confirmed the Caa1 long-term debt rating of PDVSA Finance Ltd. The confirmation ends a review for downgrade announced in January 2003. The review was prompted by the continuing uncertainty and possibly worsening conditions surrounding Petroleos de Venezuela's (PDVSA) ability to resume some level of normal operations after the strike that began in December 2002 and that seriously curtailed PDVSA's production and exports of crude oil and products.

PDVSA Finance is a Cayman Islands corporation and an indirect, wholly-owned subsidiary of PDVSA, Venezuela's national oil company. PDVSA Finance acts as a financing vehicle for PDVSA by issuing notes and using the proceeds to purchase current and future oil export receivables from PDVSA's principal operating and exporting arm. The receivables' cash flows are generally PDVSA Finance's only source of revenues, as well as the only source of payment of the notes. The rating agency said that the rating was confirmed in light of the sustained improvement in production, exports and collections; the ability of PDVSA Finance to comply with the debt service coverage ratio and the debt to equity ratio throughout the crisis; and the resolution of the two-month strike that virtually stopped all the company's production and exports.

Following the resolution of the strike, PDVSA production has returned to higher levels. In addition, amounts received in PDVSA Finance's collection account are improving. During January and February 2003, PDVSA Finance experienced an invoicing problem that impaired its collections on export receivables. As a result of this administrative issue and of substantially lower export volumes, PDVSA Finance's collections declined significantly during the first two months of 2003. In March, however, the company reports an improvement in collections, which is closer to historical amounts.

Finally, PDVSA Finance's debt service coverage ratio has remained above the 4:1 level that triggers the retention of receivables. Supported by the recovery in collections, the debt service coverage ratio has improved in April to 5.8 times, as compared to 4.5 times in March 2003. Furthermore, the debt to equity ratio that PDVSA Finance is obligated to maintain at a level below 7:1 times, has remained stable at approximately 4 times.

The agency noted that the rating of the PDVSA Finance notes is linked to the local currency and foreign currency ratings of PDVSA, which generates the receivables that back the repayment of the rated notes. PVDSA's local and foreign currency ratings are currently Caa1. The complete rating actions are: Issuer: PDVSA Finance Ltd. $400,000,000 6.45% Notes due 2004, rating confirmed at Caa1 $300,000,000 6.65% Notes due 2006, rating confirmed at Caa1 $300,000,000 6.80% Notes due 2008, rating confirmed at Caa1 $400,000,000 7.40% Notes due 2016, rating confirmed at Caa1 $400,000,000 7.50% Notes due 2028, rating confirmed at Caa1 $400,000,000 8.750% Notes due 2004, rating confirmed at Caa1 $250,000,000 9.375% Notes due 2007, rating confirmed at Caa1 $250,000,000 9.750% Notes due 2010, rating confirmed at Caa1 $100,000,000 9.950% Notes due 2020, rating confirmed at Caa1 EURO 200,000,000 6.250% Notes due 2006, rating confirmed at

Caa1 $500,000,000 8.50% Notes due 2012, rating confirmed at Caa1

Petroleos de Venezuela, the state oil company of Venezuela, is headquartered in Caracas, Venezuela.

Reuters, 05.07.03, 9:45 AM ET

CARACAS, Venezuela, May 7 (Reuters) - Venezuela's Manpa <MPA.CR>, the nation's largest paper manufacturer, on Wednesday said first-quarter net income fell 56 percent, to 364.8 million bolivars from 829.9 million bolivars a year earlier.

The company said EBITDA, or earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, fell to 5.67 billion bolivars from 13.39 billion bolivars.

The company did not provide its results in U.S. currency.

<a href=news.ft.com>Financial Times (subscription), UK - 6 May 2003 By Alex Skorecki. Venezuela has been dropped by index company FTSE from its All World index following exchange controls imposed in January. ...