gonzalez outed as a price admirer

The following is from the AFR. Took them a while to make this story. Makes me feel a little more optimistic about PPX


"Michael Hobbs
Former broking analyst Raymond Gonzalez has emerged with a substantial stake in embattled paper company
PaperlinX, saying the investment is a show of faith in paper expert Andrew Price’s ability to turn the group around.
Mr Gonzalez, who formerly covered small companies for UBS and Deutsche Bank, has bought 5.5 per cent of
PaperlinX.
He said his friend Mr Price, who was appointed non-executive director of PaperlinX in August, was the right choice
given his background in paper.
“I think Andrew is what that business needs at the moment. It is the classic case of a big company becoming a small
company being run by people who still think it’s a big company,” Mr Gonzalez said.
PaperlinX’s profits have been hit by structural changes in the paper market. The group’s share price has slumped from
more than $5 a share in 2003 to 5¢.
Mr Gonzalez said it was too early to say if the group’s restructuring efforts would improve its medium to long-term
fortunes.
“I don’t believe there is any financial risk in the short term. It is a matter of creating sustainable profits which should
drive what it is worth in the longer term. For me, it’s just an investment, but it is risky,” he said.
“It’s not about confidence [in the business]. It’s about risk management; I think the upside is potentially three or five times and the downside is 100 per cent. But this is not my only investment.”
Mr Gonzalez headed Deutsche Bank’s emerging companies research team from around 2009 onwards after 10 years
at UBS also covering small cap stocks.
Before his appointment as director, Mr Price was critical of PaperlinX’s management. He and a small group of retail
shareholders called an extraordinary general meeting earlier this year to remove then chairman Harry Boon and be
elected to the board. Despite narrowly losing on both fronts at the EGM in March, the PaperlinX board accelerated its strategy to expand into signage and other growth markets. Assets were sold and corporate costs were cut."