Tequila maker Becle pauses plant operations after deadly Mexico blast
Adds detail on reaction to results in paragraphs 8-11
MEXICO CITY, July 25 (Reuters) -Mexico's Becle CUERVO.MX, the world's largest tequila producer, on Thursday said it had suspended operations at its plant in Tequila where a deadly explosion killed six people earlier in the week, until further notice.
Becle said in a statement that it has been supporting the families of those who died.
Turning to the financial impact of the fire, CEO Juan Domingo Beckmann told a conference call that damage had been contained to one part of the site and that Becle did not anticipate material financial impact.
"We were fortunate that the damage itself was quite limited from an asset perspective," Beckmann told analysts, saying the initial assessments indicated it was limited to a processing area in La Rojena plant where a 500,000-litre tank caught fire, triggering a fire in three others according to emergency services.
Six people were killed and several other workers injured in the blast, the company and state civil protection said.
Becle said that while it did not anticipate difficulties in starting up the plant again, safety remained a key priority.
The town of Tequila, home to several distilleries of the agave spirit, is a popular tourist destination about an hour's drive northwest of Guadalajara, Mexico's second largest city.
Beckmann spoke in an call following Becle's second-quarter earnings, which saw shares rise as much as 5% in morning trading thanks to a 20% jump in core earnings, even as net profit slumped due to slow sales outside the United States and Canada.
"We have said that Becle will be a margin story going forward, and we believe that these results are the continuation of that," analysts at Itau BBA said.
Tequila has been growing in popularity notably in the United States, where together with mezcal, industry groups estimate it is the second best-selling spirit after vodka as the country's market brought in some $6.5 billion last year.
Becle added that it expects more favorable prices for agave, a plant used to make tequila, in the coming quarters.
Reporting by Aida Pelaez-Fernandez, Sarah Morland and Marion Giraldo; Editing by Alexandra Hudson
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