RUI CASTRO PACHECO
DEPUTY CHIEF INVESTMENT OFFICER
BANCO BEST
Score prediction: PORTUGAL 1 – GERMANY 2
INVESTMENT INSIGHT:
The Navigator Company – NVG
We have in Portugal a global leader in forest and paper. The Navigator Company is an integrated forest producer, whose end products are pulp & paper, tissue and energy. Its operations are based at modern, large-scale industrial units that use state-of-the-art technology and are a benchmark for quality in the sector.
They are Portugal’s third largest exporter and also the largest national added value generator, accounting for approximately 1% of GDP, about 3% of all Portuguese exports of goods and nearly 6% Portuguese containerised cargo. The total annual production capacity is near to 1.6 million tons of paper, 1.5 million tons of pulp, of which roughly 80% is integrated into paper production, 130 thousand tons of tissue and 2.5 TWh of electricity.
They ship products to approximately 130 countries on five continents, with emphasis on Europe and the USA, thus achieving the widest international presence among Portuguese companies. The Navigator Company is also a leading operator in the biomass energy sector, is investing in solar and is engaging with EIB to deepen is decarbonisation.
Source: The Navigator Company website
FRANK HUTTEL
HEAD OF PORTFOLIO MANAGEMENT
FINET ASSET MANAGEMENT
Score prediction: PORTUGAL 1 – GERMANY 2
INVESTMENT INSIGHT:
In September, Angela Merkel is stepping down as Germany’s long-reigning chancellor.
Less than four months are left until election day and the campaign is heating up. Currently we are seeing a head-to-head race between the conservative Christian Democrats (CSU/CSU) of Armin Laschet and the Greens, led by Annalena Baerbock.
In polls, the Greens even overtook the CDU/CSU for some weeks. It will be interesting who will run Germany in the next years – Laschet or Baerbock.
Maybe we will even see a coalition of both parties, which would be a novelty. The Social Democrats (SPD), the current “junior partner” in the German government, will be the “loser” – as long as we see no miracle!
