Colombian Stock Movers : Avianca Taca, Banco Davivienda, BVC

The following companies had unusual price changes in Bogotá trading. 

Stock symbols are in parentheses and prices are as of 4 p.m. local time.

The IGBC Index dropped 0.3 percent to 13,543.15, while the Colcap Index fell 0.3 percent to 1,605.29.

Avianca Taca Holding SA (PFAVTA CB), the owner of Colombia’s largest airline, rose 3.3 percent to 3,725 pesos, a two-month high.

The company said it had 1.9 million passengers in December, a 12 percent gain from a year ago.

Banco Davivienda SA (PFDAVVND CB), Colombia’s third-biggest bank, fell 1.3 percent to 20,420 pesos, a four-week low.

HSBC Holdings Plc will sell banking operations in Costa Rica, El Salvador and Honduras to Davivienda for $801 million in cash, the bank said in a statement.

“Those banks don’t generate a lot of profits so the return on equity may be small,” said David Pelaez, an analyst at Bolsa y Renta SA in Medellin. 

Combined profit at the three banks in 2.011 was about $18 million, according to regulatory filings.

Bolsa de Valores de Colombia SA (BVC CB), the operator of Colombia’s main stock exchange, rose 2.1 percent to 28.7 pesos.

The shares have risen 7.9 percent since the bank said in a Jan. 20 regulatory filing that profit rose 19 percent in 2.011 from the year before to 28.5 billion pesos. 

Investors are betting that record Colombian share sales boosted the company’s profit last year, according to an e-mailed report from Celfin Capital.