Equity research - Corticeira Amorim, SGPS, S.A. : green bonds – sustainable finance, but not for all

Mestrado em FinançasEste projecto consiste numa avaliação da Corticeira Amorim, SGPS, S.A., com foco especial em Green Bonds. Este relatório segue as recomendações do CFA Institute e foi desenvolvido de acordo com os padrões do projecto final do Mestrado em Finanças do ISEG. COR é a maior produtora de soluções de cortiça a nível global. A empresa está presente em mais de 100 países e exporta cerca de 95% da sua produção, que inclui rolhas, revestimentos, aglomerados compósitos e isolamento de cortiça. Através do método FCFF foi determinado o valor intrínseco da empresa, obtendo-se um preço-alvo de 10.9€/ação para 2019FA, correspondente a um potencial de crescimento de 21% face à cotação de 31 de Dezembro de 2018 (9.0€/ação). Os métodos DDM e FCFE apoiam a recomendação de COMPRA, com preços-alvo de 10.6€/ação e 10.8€/ação, respetivamente. Dado que existe apenas uma empresa pública comparável (OENEO), a avaliação através de múltiplos não produz resultados que possam ser considerados fiáveis. O presente estudo aborda igualmente a emissão de Green Bonds como potencial fonte de financiamento para a COR. Da nossa análise resulta que, empresas como a COR, com baixo nível de endividamento e líderes de mercado, poderão não beneficiar da emissão deste tipo de instrumento de financiamento. A não existência de projetos de grande dimensão contribui igualmente para a nossa conclusão de que os custos associados à emissão de Green Bonds seriam superiores aos benefícios, no que diz respeito à COR.This project consists of an Equity Research on Corticeira Amorim, SGPS, S.A., with a special emphasis on Green Bonds as a potential source of funding. This report follows the CFA Institute guidelines and was conducted in accordance with the standards of ISEG's Master in Finance final work project. COR is the world's largest producer of cork products. The company operates in more than 100 markets and exports around 95% of its products, which include Cork Stoppers, Floor & Wall Coverings, Composites and Insulation cork. A FCFF approach was used to estimate COR's intrinsic value, reaching a price target of €10.9/sh for 2019YE with an implied upside of 21% from the December 31st, 2018 closing price of €9.0/sh. The DDM and the FCFE support the BUY recommendation, with price targets of €10.6/sh and €10.8/sh, respectively. As there is only one listed peer, OENEO, the valuation through multiples does not yield accurate results. The study also focus on Green Bonds as a potential financing source for COR. Our analysis suggests that companies like COR, which are low leveraged and operate in a market-leading position, may not benefit from the issuance of Green Bonds. This conclusion, coupled with the lack of large-scale projects within COR, leads us to discourage the use of Green Bonds as a source of funding for this company.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

The Technology and Innovation Unit of the National Institute of Health: A sequencing and bioinformatics core facility specializing in public health genomics

The National Institute of Health (INSA) has a long tradition in investigating the molecular etiology of genetic and complex diseases. These activities greatly benefit from centralized sequencing services provided by the Technology and Innovation Unit (UTI). Its mission is to perform sequencing and genotyping assays in the framework of research, diagnosis and epidemiological surveillance, as well as to implement data analysis pipelines for the study of human gene variants. The equipment portfolio includes a NextSeq 550, a MiSeq, two 3500 AB Genetic Analyzers, a Fragment Analyzer and a 7500 Real-time PCR system. UTI provides results for average of 36.000 sequencing/fragment samples per year. The team has already performed >300 small genome, amplicon, gene panel (including clinical exome), 16S rRNA gene and RNA/microRNA next-generation sequencing assays for INSA and for several Universities in the scope of scientific collaborations. Technical procedures are conducted under a quality control system that includes external quality assessment for next-generation sequencing/Sanger sequencing and ISO 15189 accreditation for Sanger sequencing. UTI plays a key role in public health genomics, providing state-of-the-art equipment, centralized resources, technical expertise and short response times.This work was supported by Centre for Toxicogenomics and Human Health - UID/BIM/00009/2019 - and GenomePT project – POCI-01-0145-FEDER-022184info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Agronegócio Internacional e Multidimensionalidade da Percepção de Valor dos Pequenos Produtores Agrícolas em Xinavane, Moçambique: Uma Análise Factorial Confirmatória

The evaluation of the impact of agribusiness industries in small rural communities of development countries is a crucial tool for public governance strategies, when the well being of populations is a priority of states. The main objective of this paper is to investigate how small farmers from Magude and Manhiça, Mozambique, evaluate the multidimensional value of their relationships with one enterprise, Açucareira de Xinavane (ADX), which produces and processes, sugar cane, adopting the multidimensional scale of value (PERVAL scale of value), or the tetra-factorial configuration of value (emotional, social, monetary and functional) and Confirmatory Factorial Analysis (CFA) statistical strategy. Results showed that the multidimensional instrument has good psychometric proprieties of reliability and validity.FCT - Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia | IIFA - Instituto de Investigação e Formação Avançada, Universidade de Évor

Keeping in Reserve: Rethinking Earth Crises through Acts and Architectures of Reservation

This thesis concerns architecture and engages with redefining architecture in terms of its relation to acts and structures of reservation, both posited as causes of, and as solutions to Earth crises – i.e crises related to human-induced threats to, or arising from, the planetary environment. Here, what is meant by “reservation” is the production of (and the) arrangements to secure and keep apart – i.e. in reserve/s – things perceived as threatening to humanity or vital to its survival. In addition, the term here refers to another aspect of reservation - the expression of doubt regarding the efficacy of such arrangements. This thesis contends that, despite being intended to act as architectural solutions, agents or safeguards for the future and safety of (human) life on the planet, by failing to respect the inescapably interconnected nature of the environment and the reciprocity of its processes - their extensive, cumulative and temporal qualities – reserve arrangements exacerbate rather than lessen the problems they set out to address. These assimilate the very structure and pattern of crises they attempt to resolve, and keep morphologically reproducing the ill effects of threats - thus, not only exposing architecture and the reserve fragile limits but, ultimately, cementing them as fictions. This argument is made in relation to attempts to guard and defend against three categories of threat from Earth crises: destruction and danger; depletion of natural and artificial resources; contamination and pollution. These are read through ‘voiced reservations’ from the fields of Arts, critical theory, Earth (and social) sciences, radical ecology, speculative philosophy, cultural studies, architectural theory and even science fiction, which offer theoretical means to reflect on general laws of acting upon the planet and in relation to the future. Problematising the construction of the planet through the logic of the reserve, this thesis calls for new methodological engagements

Protective and vulnerability factors of municipal workers' mental health: a cross-sectional study

Work is fundamental to an individual's mental health; however, an unfavourable work environment can lead to mental health problems. Despite existing studies addressing workers' mental health, it is essential to understand the reality of specific contexts to design effective tailored interventions. Thus, this study aimed to examine the influence of potential protective and vulnerability factors on municipal workers' depressive symptoms, anxiety and stress levels, and burnout. A cross-sectional study was conducted with data collection performed between July and December 2021 using online self-report measures. The sample comprised 115 municipal workers. The findings revealed that psychological vulnerability is a significant vulnerability factor for the presence of mental health symptoms. In addition, job satisfaction was found to be a significant protective factor for depressive symptoms, anxiety, and burnout of the municipal workers. The results of this study enhance the understanding of factors that influence worker mental health, which may facilitate the proper planning of specific interventions to promote mental health in the workplace.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

The education premium of the Portuguese higher education graduate

The study of Higher Education Institutions (HEI) impacts, until 1990s, only focused on the short term impacts, i.e. the economic approach. In recent years, there has been a more significant advance about the long term impacts of higher education, especially concerning the human capital. The human capital analysis, developed by Schultz (1961) and Becker (1993), estimates the increase in productivity and incomes for the individuals due to the acquired knowledge and skills for attending an HEI. Following these authors, Bluestone (1993) suggested that the creation of human capital for higher education graduates can be estimated assuming that the wage is correlated only with the number of official school years. In this paper, the human capital of the Portuguese higher education graduate is determined, considering that the education premium (the increased wage when compared with secondary education graduates) is due only to the number of years in higher education

An approach to the determination of the total economic impact of an HEI in a deprived region of northern Portugal

The purpose of the paper is to describe the study that is being conducted in the Polytechnic Institute of Bragança (IPB). The main objective of this study is to determine the total economic impact of the institution in the hosting regions. To achieve that, we used the traditional or economic-base approach and the skill-base approach. From the traditional approach, based in the Caffrey and Isaacs’s impact model, we obtained the direct economic impact of the IPB. From the skill-base approach we are currently estimating the human capital that is directly linked to the IPB. We expect to determine the total economic impact of the IPB and how a change in its local demand will affect the economy of the surrounding regions, and also what is the higher education institutions’ impact on the individuals and how it will affect their lifelong earnings

Measuring the economic impact of a HEI in a deprived region of Portugal

This paper describes an economic impact study conducted for a Portuguese Higher Education Institution - the Polytechnic Institute of Bragança, located on the region of Bragança, a very isolated and deprived region of northeast Portugal. Two approaches were followed. The traditional economic approach – based on the study of Caffrey and Isaacs (1971) - to determine the economic impact that arises from the expenditure of the IPB and its individuals; and the skills-based approach – based on Becker (1993) and Bluestone’s (1993) works – to measure the creation of human capital and the enhancement of local individuals’ life quality. To achieve these purposes it was necessary to conduct surveys among the faculty, staff, students and graduates of the IPB, as well as to collect data from IPB’s records and official sources. Following these two approaches, the total impact of the IPB in the region was determined, reaching 55 and 61 million euros, respectively

The economic impact of a higher education institution

At present, the Portuguese government is trying to overcome the problem of the education level of the active population, one of the lowest registered in the OECD, and directly associated with the productivity rate. For that purpose, granting a larger state’s funding to the institutions with higher economic and educational impact is being considered. As such, the Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) need to prove their value, by accurately quantifying that impact, in order to enhance or secure their budget. The main objective of this study is to determine how much the regions of Bragança and Mirandela benefit from hosting the Polytechnic Institute of Bragança. To calculate such benefits an economic impact model is being developed, based on Caffrey and Isaacs’ model (1971), adjusted to the regions in analysis. This paper describes the model and the conclusions of the first phase, which comprise a survey to the faculty, staff and students