The 30th anniversary of Corticeira Amorim’s listing on the Portuguese Stock Exchange was announced yesterday, April 26, at an event organized by Euronext at its headquarters in Lisbon. The meeting was attended by the Chairman of the Board of Euronext Lisbon, Paulo Rodrigues da Silva, and the Chairman of the Board of Corticeira Amorim, António Rios de Amorim. The meeting was closed by the Secretary of State for Industry, Ana Teresa Lehmann.
"This is not just any old company or family," stated Teresa Lehmann, Secretary of State for Industry. "It’s a company that has shown that it understands the advantages of the capital market and how to use them". She praised the group’s "extraordinary contribution to the Portuguese economy."
"Many of Portugal’s most innovative industries involve traditional products", said the Secretary of State for Industry, who highlighted Corticeira Amorim as an example of "innovation in tradition" and an "industry of the future".
Corticeira Amorim was listed on the Portuguese Stock Exchange in April 1988, followed by Ipocork and Amorim & Irmãos in June, and Champcork in July of that year. In 1989, a public exchange offer was launched - offering Corticeira Amorim shares in exchange for the shares of Ipocork, Amorim & Irmãos and Champcork.
This was a decisive step towards transformation of what was already a major exporting company into a truly international company. The public listing provided a solid and balanced financial structure, which enabled Corticeira Amorim to successfully establish its own distribution network in territories close to its main markets and customers, and set up production units in several strategic markets.
Listing on the Portuguese stock exchange not only enabled Corticeira Amorim to gain access to capital. As a publicly listed company, there was a reinforced commitment to investors, above in terms of profitability, reporting requirements, consistency, and in terms of visibility of its business activity and the scrutiny of the company’s management and corporate governance structures.
During the event at Euronext, António Rios de Amorim said: "We’re celebrating 30 years of major risks and challenges, intense work and, fortunately, success - over a journey spanning almost 150 years of business activity."
He then added "The decision to list Corticeira Amorim on the Portuguese Stock Exchange provided essential leverage for professionalization of our management team; specialisation into distinct business units, managed by highly qualified and motivated teams; redesigning of a governance model capable of safeguarding the interests of all stakeholders, including sustainable wealth creation for our shareholders".
Over the past 30 years, Corticeira Amorim has maintained different levels of dispersion of its share capital. In 2015 and 2016, the company significantly increased its free float, to about 25%, in two operations that involved major investments by Portuguese and foreign institutional investors. These operations, complemented by the company’s strong fundamentals, has delivered increased attention and greater coverage from the financial markets.
