The long-term investment perspective: assessing Volkswagen AG intrinsic value

This master project focuses on the equity valuation of Volkswagen AG, one of the major automotive companies in the world. Volkswagen AG was the chosen company due to a variety of factors. Firstly, it is interesting to analyze how automotive companies should adjust their business models to accommodate the ongoing changes and innovations within the industry. Additionally, it is intriguing how the company overcame the Dieselgate scandal and is still one of the biggest players in the industry. The main objective of this research is to provide an investment recommendation based on certain investment valuation techniques. The decision will be based on an intrinsic valuation approach, the DCF using FCFF, and on a relative valuation approach, through market multiples. Alongside with the valuation techniques used, the Three-Statement Model, the Multiple Linear Regression Model and the Option Pricing Method were also applied. In order to assess the accuracy of the assumptions made, other analysts’ estimates were taken into consideration. An intrinsic price of 194.04 EUR was deduced for both shares, which implies that the stock market was overvaluing ordinary shares and undervaluing preferred shares on 31st December 2021. As a result, a sell recommendation for ordinary shares and a buy recommendation for preferred shares were gathered, since it is expected that the market will amend both margins, by naturally decreasing or increasing the price of share, respectively.O âmbito desta dissertação comtempla a avaliação dos capitais próprios da Volkswagen AG, uma das maiores empresas de produção automóvel do mundo. Foram vários os motivos que levaram à escolha desta empresa. Em primeiro lugar, analisar como as empresas automóveis ajustam os seus modelos de negócio de modo a acomodar as constantes mudanças e inovações da indústria é bastante interessante. Do mesmo modo, é também interessante perceber como a empresa ultrapassou o recente escândalo do Dieselgate e ainda assim consegue continuar como uma das maiores empresas na indústria. Sendo assim, o principal objetivo foi a obtenção de uma recomendação de investimento baseada em certas metodologias de avaliação de empresas. Esta recomendação baseou-se num modelo de avaliação intrínseca, através do método DCF, e numa metodologia de avaliação relativa, através dos múltiplos do mercado. Para além das metodologias acima descritas, o Three-Statement Model, o Modelo de Regressão Linear Múltipla e o Option Pricing Method foram também abordados. Para averiguar a precisão dos pressupostos levados a cabo na avaliação, foram também analisadas estimativas de preço de outros analistas. Foi deduzido um valor intrínseco de 194.04 EUR para ambas as ações da empresa, ações ordinárias e ações preferenciais, o que implica que o mercado estava sobreavaliando as ações ordinárias e a subavaliando as ações preferenciais a 31 de Dezembro de 2021. Como resultado, é recomendada a venda das ações ordinárias e a compra das ações preferenciais da empresa

How are “farmers” adapting in Southern Portugal? Assessing land management typologies in a transition theory perspective.

European rural landscapes face today several changes due to market liberalization, price instability, energetic crisis, food quality and security, etc. Rural landscapes in the Mediterranean peripheric region of Alentejo (Southern Portugal) mainly managed under extensive farming systems are especially vulnerable to this global scenario, as farms traditionally base their income on production functions, unable to be competitive in this world market with the commodities they provide. These landscapes face severe threats of simplification and abandonment. But because of their extensive character and specific features, these landscapes maintain environmental and cultural values progressively demanded by society for non-commodity functions like leisure, nature conservation and identity. An increasing group of land managers (including full-time and part-time farmers, hobby farmers, business man or simply new residents) is emerging in these attractive areas giving expression to what some authors call the multifunctional transition bounded between a more productivist and more post-productivist management; or both, as they can overlap in time, space and structure. So, how are land managers adapting to society’s demand and global changes? How can land management in these peripheric landscapes better adapt to the new requirements and survive in a globalized environment? What are the local requirements for these new management strategies and forms to survive ?In this communication we intend to assess the different land management types identified in a protected area where the new functions related to the provision of public goods have already some expression, motivating land managers to adapt in different ways. The typology is anchored on the transition theory perspective and aims at identifying the possible innovative approaches for lands management in Mediterranean extensive landscapes. Propose

Papel das medidas agro-ambientais na gestão da paisagem rural no concelho de Marvão no PNSSM

As paisagens rurais portuguesas construídas e mantidas ao longo dos tempos por sistemas agrícolas tradicionais, estão hoje ameaçadas por motivos tão diversos como o envelhecimento da população, o abandono rural, a intensificação, a homogeneização dos sistemas de produção e a perda de competitividade. Mas apesar destes problemas, estas paisagens agrícolas, suportam ainda várias funções não produtivas, nomeadamente, constituem, um importante suporte de biodiversidade, pelo que a sua manutenção é importante para a conservação destes habitats e espécies. Eventualmente novas formas de gestão destas paisagens devem ser criadas, nomeadamente com base na combinação de várias funções numa perspectiva de multifuncionalidade, através de uma adaptação e integração de políticas públicas. Estando actualmente em discussão o novo programa de Desenvolvimento Rural e a definição das futuras Medidas Agro-Ambientais, e a gestão e o financiamento da Rede Natura 2000, estamos portanto num momento crítico para decisões futuras, que terão forçosamente que interligar, a agricultura, o ambiente e desenvolvimento das zonas rurais portuguesas. Com o intuito de melhor compreender estas problemáticas, em particular, as transformações em curso na paisagem rural, o papel das Medidas Agro-Ambientais e apresentar possíveis soluções, foi efectuado este estudo de caso no concelho de Marvão, concelho típico das áreas marginais agrícolas do interior sul de Portugal. ABSTRACT; The Portuguese rural landscapes built up and kept throughout the times by traditional agricultural systems, are today threatened by so diverse reasons as the ageing of the population, the agricultural abandonment, the intensification, the homogenization of the production systems and the loss of competitiveness. But despite these problems. These agricultural landscapes still support a multitude of non-commodity functions, and particularly they still constitute an important support of biodiversity and thus their maintenance is important for the conservation of these habitats and species. Probably new management forms must be created based on the combination of various functions and the adaptation and integration of public policies. Being currently in discussion the new program of Rural Development and the definition of the future Agri-Environmental Measures, and the management and the financing of the Natura 2000 Network, we are therefore at a critical moment for future decisions that will forcibly have to establish connections, between the agriculture, the environment and the development of the portuguese agricultural areas. With the intention of better understanding these problems and questions, , the transformations taking place in Portuguese peripheric rural areas, and in particular role of the Agri-Environmental Measures, and also for presenting possible solutions, a case study was analyzed in municipality of Marvão, characteristic of the agricultural marginal areas of the interior Southern Portugal

The landscape on an asset in Southern European fragile agriculture systems contrasts and contradiction in land managers attitudes and practices

Transition theories suggest that there is a spatial, temporal and structural co-existence of several processes of transition from productivism to post-productivism going on in rural areas in multiple combinations resulting in a more complex, contested, variable mix of production, consumption and protection goals. This is particularly true for South European landscapes dominated by extensive agro-silvo-pastoral systems. The fragile agricultural sector is in some cases just entering the productivist phase, let alone moving towards post-productivism both in terms of discourse and management practices. At the same time, these are landscapes increasingly valued by society, and this demand should encourage new strategies for farm survival and new ways of managing the land. But such new strategies require a paradigm shift, not only in policy goals and formulation, but also in farmers’ attitude towards their role and their management goals. In this paper, the question addressed is how the land managers within this system, facing multiple transition options, are choosing different management paradigms, in the complex range between productivism and post-productivism. Based on a farm survey in southern Portugal, a typology of land managers is produced, aiming to grasp the combination between their management practices in the farm and their expressed attitudes towards farm management and the role of their farm in the landscape. Results reveal some inconsistencies between land managers’ intentions and their landscape outcomes, in an opposite sense to what has been earlier identified in Northwestern Europe. Even if they manage a multifunctional system, their self-concept is dominantly productivist and not affected by the public expectations of multifunctionality. This tension may reflect contradictions in the policy framework and, at the same time, raises challenges which the existing policy mechanisms do not consider

Chapter Emerging Techniques for Assessment of Sensorimotor Impairments after Spinal Cord Injury

Mechanical properties of the plantar soft tissue, which acts as the interface between the skeleton and the ground, play an important role in distributing the force underneath the foot and in influencing the load transfer to the entire body during weight-bearing activities. Hence, understanding the mechanical behaviour of the plantar soft tissue and the mathematical equations that govern such behaviour can have important applications in investigating the effect of disease and injuries on soft tissue function. The plantar soft tissue of the foot shows a viscoelastic behaviour, where the reaction force is not only dependent on the amount of deformation but also influenced by the deformation rate. This chapter provides an insight into the mechanical behaviour of plantar soft tissue during loading with specific emphasis on heel pad, which is the first point of contact during normal gait. Furthermore, the methods of assessing the mechanical behaviour including the in vitro/in situ and in vivo are discussed, and examples of creep, stress relaxation, rate dependency and hysteresis behaviour of the heel pad are shown. In addition, the viscoelastic models that represent the mechanical behaviour of the plantar soft tissue under load along with the equations that govern this behaviour are elaborated and discussed

Emerging Techniques for Assessment of Sensorimotor Impairments after Spinal Cord Injury

Gait function can be altered after incomplete spinal cord (iSCI) lesions. Muscular weakness, co‐activation of antagonist muscles, and altered muscle mechanics are likely to provoke abnormal gait and postural movements. Functional scales are available for assessment of functional walking in SCI patients, such as walking index for spinal cord injury (WISCI II), timed up and go (TUG) test, 10‐meter walk test (10MWT), and 6‐minute walk test (6MWT). Novel metrics for a more detailed comprehension of neuromuscular control in terms of degree of voluntary motor control have been recently proposed. This section describes novel techniques based on muscle synergy and frequency domain analysis of electromyographic signals. Such techniques are illustrated as potential tools for assessment of motor function after SCI with experimental data and a case study describing a diagnostic scenario. This chapter presents a discussion of the current status of the emerging metrics for assessment of sensorimotor impairments. Conclusions are given with respect to the availability of enriched information about neuromuscular behavior between functional tasks (walking and pedalling) and the potential relevance of these new techniques to improve the efficacy of treatment to improve locomotion after iSCI

The fuzziness of Montado landscapes: progress in assessing user preferences through photo-based surveys

The European Landscape Convention (2000) states that landscape is an important contributor to the quality of life for people everywhere and that landscape is a complex of natural and cultural factors, as they are seen by the observer. Landscape preference, i.e. the degree to which people like a landscape and variations in the same type of landscape pattern, is an emerging field of knowledge, still under development. Moreover, knowing how preferences of rural landscapes differ among stakeholders can help define and support management responses to the changing demands of modern society. There is a need to understand this demand for new uses and activities, such as hunting, leisure, recreation, life quality support, and aesthetic appreciation. In Mediterranean extensive land use systems, such as the Montado, where agricultural production is under threat, but where the demand for amenity functions is increasing, assessing preferences and thus what the public is looking for, is particularly relevant. This papers demonstrates how photo based surveys can be an suitable tool for assessing landscape preferences in Montado landscapes, and also that, in order to cope with the underlying fuzziness of these landscapes, the images need to be edited (manipulated) so that the variations shown to respondents are adequately controlled in the study. The methodological approach as well as the results, of two different studies on the users preferences for Montado landscapes, applied to case-study areas in the region of Alentejo, Portugal, are presented. The issues concerned with photo manipulation are a particular focus of discussion

Influence of the robotic exoskeleton Lokomat on the control of human gait : an electromyographic and kinematic analysis

Nowadays there is an increasing percentage of elderly people and it is expected that this percentage will continue increasing, carrying huge organizational costs in rehabilitation services. Recent robotic devices for gait training are more and more regarded as alternatives to solve cost-efficiency issues and provide novel approaches for training. Nevertheless, there is a need to address how to target muscular activation and kinematic patterns for optimal recovery after a neurological damage. The main objective of this work was to understand the underlying principles that the human nervous system employs to synchronize muscular activity during walking assisted by Lokomat. A basic low-dimensional locomotor program can explain the synergistic activation of muscles during assisted gait. As a main contribution, we generated a detailed description of the electro myographic and biomechanical response to variations in robotic assistance in intact humans, which can be used for future control strategies to be implemented in motor rehabilitation