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General
Unemployment in Portugal rose to 10.5% in January, inching higher for the first time in three months. That left the rate the fourth-highest in the Euro Zone, after Spain, Ireland and Slovakia. In Portugal the hardest hit were youths, with people younger than 25 years old showing an unemployment rate of 21.7%.
Basílio Horta, head of the AICEP trade promotion body, said last week that Spain is in a much more difficult economic situation than Portugal -- and even worse than in Greece. Horta said the impact from problems in Spain would also be greater, because the country accounts for 11% of European Union GDP. Last year Portugal lost some €3.5bn in terms of decreased trade with Spain.
Despite last week’s general strike, the Government remains firm in its intent to freeze wages for civil servants and other public sector employees. The strike was a bit of a disappointment for many workers, with turnout rates lower than in recent labour actions.
Portugal’s national team downed China 2-0 last week, with Hugo Almeida and João Moutinho doing the honors. The friendly game, in preparation for the World Cup later this year, was marred by the crowd, which booed the Chinese team’s lacklustre performance.
The debt management office, or IGCP, said it will sell €750m in bonds this week. The new bonds will be due in 2021 and will carry a coupon of 3.85%.
The Cascais Court last week said the Estoril Sol Casino could proceed with its plans to lay off 112 workers. The casino workers union had tried to block the move by appealing to the court.
Portugal will have to do without defender José Bosingwa at the World Cup, as the Chelsea star is out for the rest of the season with a knee injury. The Portuguese player has been sidelined since October and is likely to undergo surgery to rectify the problem.
The US’ women’s football team beat Germany 3-2 last week to win the Algarve Cup for the seventh time. The U.S. took a 2-0 lead on goals by Carli Lloyd and Abby Wambach within a 5-minute span of the first half, but after Germany equalized only scored in the 70th minute on an error from the opposing keeper.
The government estimates that Portuguese small and medium sized companies saved a total of €5m from measures taken as part of the Simplex project to reduce bureaucracy and speed up the processing of basic documents. The civil service has shifted much of the paperwork online, saving time and money.
Portugal’s Labour Authority last year said the number of reported crimes related to employment soared 92% in 2009, to 113. The ACT authority surveyed 40,000 companies last year. The majority of the infractions had to do with illegal shuttering of companies without fulfilling obligations to employees.
Industry
Retailer Jerónimo Martins said last week it will dole out €12.5m in an extra bonus for its employees, or around €250 per person. For the first time the payout is being extended to the company’s employees in Poland.
Auto sales were up 53% in February to 15,346 units compared with the same period in 2009, but the Association of Auto Vendors said the figures are misleading because the sector has far from recovered, noting that this year’s figures remain 10% below the February 2008 sales numbers.
Cement company Cimpor said its net profits rose 8% in 2009 to hit €237m, as sales slipped slightly to €2.1bn. Cimpor said its operations were negatively affected by the financial crisis, which cut sales in various of its overseas markets.
Portuguese builder Somague, a unit of Spain’s Sacyr Vallehermoso, swung back to profits in 2009, with a net gain of €7.5m compared with a loss of €8.9m in 2008.
TAP Air Portugal said last week that it will launch a package of measures to help Madeira island recover from recent devastating storms. The airline will promote tourism to the archipelago with special offers for Portuguese international travellers.
The government last week confirmed it will sell off its 15% stake in the Cahora Bassa hydropower plant in Mozambique. Portugal and Mozambique have invited Ceza SA of Mozambique and Portuguese grid operator REN SA to buy the stake.
Papermaker Inapa said last week that it is cautiously optimistic about market conditions going forward, predicting some recovery over the course of 2010. In 2009 Inapa’s sales fell 10% to €938m.
The Imovia real estate group said last week that it has started selling property for the residential complex Quinta da Cascata in Vila Franca da Xira, northeast of Lisbon. The site features 72 apartments in a gated community with prices running around €1,160 per square metre.
Financial Services
Profits at Banif fell 8.7% to €54.1m in 2009, punished by weak financial margins an increase in non-performing loans. The bank was also hit by the news that its founder and CEO, Horácio Roque, suffered a stroke last week, and remains hospitalised.
Ricardo Salgado, CEO of Banco Espírito Santo , has been buying shares of the bank, last week adding 90,000 more of the stock to his portfolio. That cost him €327,000, and lifted his stake in the bank to 1.35m shares.
The cost of default insurance for Portuguese sovereign debt – the famous credit default swaps – slipped to its lowest level since January last week, a signal investors are feeling less worried that Greece may fail to meet its obligations without a bailout. That fretting had led to CDSs in many other European countries shooting higher, with Portugal among the most affected.
Portuguese pension funds produced a 0.7% return in February, thanks to a flourishing stock market and better than expected economic activity. Pension funds remain attractive for investors seeking safe havens in the financial crisis.
Telecoms & Media
Portugal Telecom posted profits of €683.9m in 2009, a 19% increase on 2008, driven by higher sales at home and abroad, as well as the €400m sale of its stake in Morocco’s Meditel. Sales were up 0.9% at €6.78bn, the company said last week. PT also said it had invested €98m in infrastructure and other items in Portugal last year, mainly on the rollout of its fibre optic network and on its TMN mobile unit. PT said it now had 581,000 clients for its MEO interactive TV service.
Both SIC and RTP increased their share of audience in February, stealing viewers away from the persistent leader, TVI. SIC had a share of 25.3%, up from 25.2%, while RTP had a share of 24.7%, up from 24.5%. TVI, meanwhile, slipped from a 28.5% share to 27.5%.
Portugal Telecom last week won its court appeal of a €38m fine from the Competition Authority for allegedly abusing its dominant market position. The fine, levied in 2007, was the largest ever in Portugal for competition issues.
The e-schools programme designed to bring low-cost technology into the classroom using initiatives like the budget Magalhães laptop, cost the government and telecoms companies €854m in the first nine months of 2009, Mário Franco, head of the Foundation for Mobile Communications, said last week. Some 1.2m computers were distributed as part of the programme.
Pay TV operator Zon last week unveiled its new 3D channel, which will be available shortly to any customer with a high-definition Zon Box system. The channel will be a demonstration site at first, as there isn’t enough 3D material available to support a 24-hour channel.
Two journalists with the Sol weekly newspaper have been named as suspects for allegedly violating the rules covering judicial secrecy for their role in publishing material from wiretaps in the “Face Oculta” investigation into allegations of corruption. The journalists said they haven’t been called to testify in the case yet.
Economy Shows Signs Of Improvement
The Portuguese economy is showing increasing signs of life, with the OECD’s forward indicator for confidence and growth improving for the tenth straight month in January. The indicator, which tries to anticipate economic activity over the next six months, rose to 102 in January from 101 in December. In December of 2009 the indicator had sunk to 92. But the OECD was quick to point out that Lisbon has been accompanying the overall European trend in terms of improvement in this indicator.
McCanns Urge Portugal Police To Hand Over Files
Files held by Portuguese police containing reported sightings of missing Madeleine McCann should be handed to investigators still searching for her, a family representative told news outlets last week. Several newspapers reported that thousands of previously unseen pages of information passed to police after the case was closed had been released to them after they applied to a Portuguese court. Madeleine's parents, Kate and Gerry, were said to have been shocked to see the lack of follow-up from the Portuguese police. The family called on the police to hand over files with information and leas on th case to the private investigators who are still looking for Madeleine. Portuguese authorities are no longer investigating the case of the toddler who disappeared from her luxury resort in the middle of the night in 2007. New leads reported by the newspapers, including the Daily Mail and the Daily Express, include security camera footage in New Zealand showing a girl resembling Madeleine being led into a supermarket by a man, according to the AFP news service. Other reported sightings are said to have cropped up in Portugal, Spain, France and the United States. The McCanns were named as official suspects in her disappearance in September 2007, though that was reversed in 2008.
Government´s 3-Year Plan Focuses On Fiscal Stability, Spending Cuts
The government’s stability and growth pact plan, approved last weekend at a special meeting of cabinet ministers, sees the budget deficit shrinking to below 3% of GDP in 2013, powered by a modest increase in taxes on some and broad cuts in spending. The PEC plan, as it is called, will formally be presented to the opposition parties on Monday. A government spokesman said last weekend that the PEC is designed to transmit a message of confidence to Portuguese citizens, based as it is on fiscal stability. The spokesman, João Tiago Silveira, said the government had previously shown itself capable of cutting the deficit to 2.6% from more than 6% in 2005. The current deficit is 9.3% of GDP, and the government has said it will be cut just 1% in 2010, as efforts to fight off the effects of the financial crisis continue. Prime Minister José Sócrates will meet with all the opposition parties and unions over this week to explain the PEC plan.
Madeira Rebuild Looms
Portuguese Prime Minister José Sócrates and Alberto João Jardim, president of the Madeira autonomous region, met last week to discuss ways to finance reconstruction of the island’s infrastructure following devastating storms that recently killed more than 40 people and destroyed highways, bridges, homes and businesses. Jardim estimates it will take more than €1bn to repair the damage – an amount similar to the annual budget for the archipelago. Sócrates and Jardim agreed to suspend the Regional Finances Law, which funds the island’s operations, while the damage is being evaluated and the clean-up process begins. Private companies including the country’s main banks and TV stations have been collecting funds to contribute to Madeira, with more than €1m being pledged so far.
Sterling throws a wobbly
The currency will remain vulnerable to worries about a hung parliament. -
The Apartment Service Av. 24 de Julho, nº. 3, 2º esq. Sala 1 1200-480 LISBOA T. 213 830 777 F. 213 958 394 contact@santosapartments.com www.santosapartments.com Main Activity: Hotels & Holiday Accommodation Main Contact: Mr. Charles McCrow
Good Life Spas Armazem 4, Sitio do Alem, nr Almancil 8135-011 LOULE T: 912 048 503 sales@glspas.com http://www.glspas.com Main Activity: Spa/Sauna/Steam Room supplier Main Contact: Mr. Andy Coulton
Hospital Particular do Algarve Estrada Alvor , Alvor 8500-322 PORTIMÃO T: 707 28 28 28 F: 282 420 404 info@hpalg.com www.hpalg.com MainActivity: Hospitals Main Contact: Dr João Bacalhau
Statur/Exquisite Largo De Camoes, Ed Riamar, BL2 Lj3 8000-140 FARO T. 289 894 910 F. 289 894 919 geral@statur.com www.exquisite.statur.com MainActivity: Transport
Main Contact: Drª. Isabel Correia Gago
Liliana Marina Benedetti Conde de Sousa Praça de Londres, 4 2º Esq. 1000-191 Lisboa T. 213 514 060 F. 213 143 674 l.conde@nh-hotels.cm www.nh-hotels.com MainActivity: Hotels & Holiday Accommodation Main Contact: Drª. Liliana Conde
Forbes -Gestão e Fiscalização de Obras, Lda. Rua Centro Comunitário, 96 - R/c, Edif. Botânico 8135-903 ALMANCIL T. 289 350 270 F. 289 350 279 dermot@forbes.pt www.forbes.pt MainActivity: Project Management Main Contact: Dermot Forbes
If you wish to
attend one of the events listed below, please contact:
Mª Helena Fernandes, BPCC, Lisbon.
Phone: +35 1 213 942 020, fax: +35 1 213 942 029,
email: h.fernandes@bpcc.pt
This Diary of Events has now been expanded to include
a selection of initiatives organised by the Commercial
Section of the British Embassy* in Lisbon
10 March (Algarve) – New Members cocktail evening at Browns Sports and Leisure Club in Vilamoura.
11 March (Porto) – QSP Summit 2010, IV International Conference on “The Marketing Service Time” at Exponor from 9am to 6pm. More information and bookings
15 Março (Porto) – Almoço-Debate com Dr. Jorge Martins da MARTIFER sobre o tema “Gerir uma Empresa de Sucesso em Tempo de Crise” no Sheraton Porto Hotel. Patrocinado por PricewatehouseCoopers
16 Março (Lisbon) – Almoço-Debate com Dr. Carlos Costa, Vice-Presidente do Banco Europeu de Investimento sobre o tema de “Perspectivas económicas para Portugal e União Europeia”. Este almoço decorrerá no Lisbon Marriott Hotel.
16 March (Algarve) – Business Breakfast on the theme “2010 - Ensuring there is life in your business” at the Amendoeira Golf Clubhouse in Alcantarilha.
17 Março (Lisboa) – Seminário com PricewaterhouseCoopers sobre “Breve análise do OE” e “O incremento da tributação directa” no Hotel Sana Lisboa.
18 Mar (Porto) – Seminário sobre “O Futuro das TICs em Portugal - Enquadramento e Oportunidades” no Sheraton Porto Hotel.
18 Mar (Algarve) – Power Networking Lunch at Rio Laranja - Vale d’Oliveiras Quinta Resort & Spa (Lagoa).
25 Mar (Porto) – Seminar on e-commerce – how to succeed online at ANJE.
15 April (Algarve) – New Members Cocktail at the new offices of Lloyd & Whyte Int. in Tavira.
29 May (Porto) – Baile de Primavera no Palácio do Freixo.
1 / 2 Junho (Lisboa / Estoril) – Conferência sobre “Let’s talk about Vinho” com a presença de oradores do Reino Unido (Sommelier / Buyer / Distributor / wine critic / case study) with Marktree.
19 Jun (Porto) – III Torneio de Golfe no Norte no campo de golfe de Amarante. Patrocinado por Shamir Attitude Golf eLexus
Power Network lunches are organised on a regular basis (by invitation only) throughout the country. Should you wish to receive an invitation to attend the next one in your area, contact us on info@bpcc.pt
Interested in
sponsoring these or any future
Chamber events? - then contact us on h.fernandes@bpcc.pt
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11 March 2010 QSP SUMMIT 2010 The Marketing Service Time - QSP SUMMIT 2010
15 March 2010 Lunch-Debate Lunch-Debate with Dr. Carlos Martins, Chairman of Martifer, whose intervention will focus on "Gerir uma empresa de sucesso em tempo de crise". This event will be held at the Sheraton Porto Hotel.
16 March 2010 Business Breakgast Business Breakfast on the theme “2010 - Ensuring there is life in your business” at the Amendoeira Golf Clubhouse in Alcantarilha.
