José Penido of VCP named RISI's 2007 Latin American CEO of the Year
BOSTON, MA, Oct. 18, 2007 - RISI, the leading information provider for the global forest products industry, today announced that VCP's Chief Executive Officer, José Luciano Penido, has been selected as RISI's first-ever Latin American CEO of the Year.
Penido was nominated Latin American CEO of the Year in a survey, conducted by RISI, of investment analysts and portfolio managers covering the forest products industry. The criteria for nomination included leadership, vision and strategic accomplishment.
The 2007 award will be presented to Penido on November 29th at RISI's 2nd Latin American Pulp & Paper Outlook Conference in São Paulo, Brazil. Penido will also participate in the CEO Panel at the conference on the same day. For more details, view the Latin American Conference program at this link: www.risiinfo.com/events/la_conf/.
Describing Penido, one analyst stated that VCP's CEO had made "the tough (but correct) decision of disposing the company's main business - paper - in order to focus on the pulp business." She added that, "As a result, the company gave up short term gains (i.e. EBITDA generation) for the long term benefit of being in a business with clear competitive cost and growth advantages in Brazil. Bravo!"
Penido has been at the helm of VCP since January 2004. Prior to that, he was the CEO of Samarco, a leader in the iron ore mining and pelletizing industry for eleven years. Penido is a board member of the Ethos Institute for Corporate Citzenship, the FDC management school and also of the CEATS-Third Sector Administration and Entrepreneurship Center, at the University of São Paulo. He has a degree in mining engineering from the Federal University of Minas Gerais.
Penido commented "It was with surprise and some pride that I read about the RISI decision to name me as the Latin American CEO of the Year. The worldwide prestige of RISI transfers to this award a sense of value, and I am very happy to receive this recognition of my professional role as CEO of VCP."
VCP is headquarted in São Paulo, Brazil, and is a leading producer of pulp and paper in the region. VCP produced 1.45 million tonnes of pulp in 2006, 14% of the total pulp produced in Brazil last year. Also, the company manufactured 611,000 tonnes of paper, being responsible for 7% of the total paper production in the country.
VCP owns a 1.1 million tonne/yr pulp mill in Jacareí, São Paulo state, southeast Brazil, and a paper mill in Piracicaba, also in São Paulo state, which produces 160,000 tonnes/yr of specialty and coated papers. Additionally, VCP operates a consortium with Suzano at the former Ripasa Americana mill, currently called Conpacel.
On the asset divestment front, VCP and Suzano have recently sold the former Ripasa's Limeira and Cubatão mills. In addition, VCP sold its Embu unit in March 2007 and its specialty paper mill in Mogi das Cruzes in May 2007. VCP has also created a joint venture with Ahlstrom for specialty paper production at VCP's Jacareí mill, in São Paulo, Brazil.
Looking to the future, VCP is focusing on two main growth projects. The Horizonte Project is taking place in the state of Mato Grosso do Sul, and involves 1.3 million tonnes/yr of new capacity which is due to start up in May 2009. The Losango Project is in the state of Rio Grande do Sul and includes a further 1.3 million tonnes/yr of capacity to start up in 2011.
This year marks the inauguration of RISI's Latin American CEO of the Year Award. An annual award has been presented since 1999 to a CEO of the Year in North America, but the award has been expanded to include Europe and Latin America this year. RISI's European CEO of the Year for 2007 was Jussi Pesonen of UPM and the North American winner was Raymond Royer of Domtar, for the second time. Past recipients of the North American CEO of the Year award include John Faraci of International Paper (2006), A.D. 'Pete' Correll of Georgia-Pacific (2005), Paul Stecko of Packaging Corp. of America (2004), Raymond Royer of Domtar Inc. (2003), Steve Rogel of Weyerhaeuser Co. (2002 and 2001), John Dillon of International Paper Co. (2000), and Michael Smurfit of Jefferson Smurfit Group (1999).
About RISI
RISI is the leading information provider for the global forest products industry. The company works with clients in the pulp and paper, wood products, timber, tissue, nonwovens, printing and publishing industries to help them make better decisions.
Headquartered in Boston (Bedford), Massachusetts, RISI operates offices in Brussels, Belgium; Atlanta, Georgia; San Francisco, California; Portland, Oregon; São Paulo, Brazil; Shanghai, China; Singapore; and Charlottesville, Virginia. More information can be found at www.risiinfo.com.
About VCP
VCP - Votorantim Celulose e Papel is a leading company in the pulp and paper sector in Brazil. The company also represents a large business area within the Votorantim Group, one of the leading conglomerates in Latin America. The company's operations are integrated and range from wood production, which is its raw material, to the distribution of product to end consumers. Wood production also is conducted in partnership with farmers, through forestry partner programs. VCP shares are traded at Corporate Governance Level 1 on the São Paulo Stock Exchange (BOVESPA) and have been part of the exchange's Business Sustainability Index (ISE) since December 2005. Furthermore, the Company's ADR-3 shares are traded on the New York Stock Exchange. To learn more, visit www.vcp.com.br.