One-third of Portugal’s stock market controlled by just seven investors

One-third of all the national listings on Portugal’s stock market are controlled by just seven investors according to the online news service ECO.

And among those seven investors, the President of China, Xi Jinping is the biggest investor at Euronext Lisboa with direct and indirect participations in eight listed companies.
The other big investors on the national stock market are: John Graham (Canada Pension Plan Investment), Lua Queiroz Pereira (Sodim), Fernanda Masaveu Herrero (Oppidum Capital), Pedro Soares dos Santos (Sociedade Francisco Manuel dos Santos), Paula Amorim (Grupo Américo Amorim) and João Lourenço (Angola).
The Euronext Lisboa stock market currently has 37 listed companies which together represent share capitalisation worth €78Bn. Its shareholding comprises thousands of investors, particularly investment funds and small Portuguese investors who buy and sell several batches of shares daily.
However, almost half of the listed companies (17) have a shareholding structure that is totally shielded by the control of majority capital by very few shareholders. An example is EDP Renováveis, the largest listed company with stock market capital of €21Bn and is held by EDP. (75%)
It is the same case with Jerónimo Martins which has 56% of its capital in the hands of the Soares dos Santos family, or Corticeira Amorim through three family holdings.
And despite Portuguese capital still having the lion’s share on Portugal’s stock market, the 38 listed companies have qualified investors (with shareholdings of over 2%) from 15 nationalities – two of the most important being Spain and Angola.
One example is the fund Oppidum Capital held by the group Masaveu owned by Spanish entrepreneur Fernando Masaveu Herrero who holds a 7.2% share in EDP and also the Angolan State which has capital shares in Galp, NOS and BCP, with current accumulated investments of €2.3Bn.
But the top investor is Xi Jinping and the Chinese government which through four companies (China Three Gorges, Fosun, State Grid of China and the China Communications Construction Company) and which has a portfolio of over €8.5Bn in direct and indirect participations in eight listed companies: EDP, EDP Renováveis, BCP, REN, Mota-Engil, Martifer, Inapa and Reditus.