Sonae is a multinational business group headquartered in Maia, Portugal. It operates in 90 countries, working in various sectors, among which retail (food, electronics, and fashion), real estate, media and telecommunications, technology investments, and financial services stand out.
It is the largest private employer in Portugal, with a total of 48,222 employees. On February 17, 2022, the company's CEO, Cláudia Azevedo, announced a restructuring of the company's image and its respective subsidiaries.
Sonae is listed on the Euronext PSI-20 in Lisbon, with the code SON.
Results 2022
Consolidated business volume exceeded 7.7 billion euros, growing by 10.9%.
Underlying EBITDA margin was 8.2%.
The Sonae Group's total investment in Portugal amounted to one billion euros, with consolidated investment growing by 34%.
Net debt reached its lowest value this century, at 540M€ at the end of 2022, with the Group maintaining 1.3 billion euros of available liquidity.
Sonae continued its journey towards carbon neutrality by 2040, reducing CO2 emissions by 24% (vs. 2018), and increased the level of recyclable plastic packaging for its own brand products to 80%.
Support to the community increased by 47%, with 31.3M€ donated through financial means and goods, directly supporting 1,497 institutions.
Sonae achieved its goal of having 39% of leadership positions held by women, one year ahead of schedule.
History
Sonae was founded in 1959 by the entrepreneur, banker and patron from Arouca, Afonso Pinto de Magalhães. The business group originated from the Sociedade Nacional de Estratificados, an industrial company operating in the area of processed wood, more specifically, in the production of decorative high-pressure laminated panels.[4] During the first two decades of existence, Sonae remained as a small to medium-size business company.
Afonso Pinto de Magalhães, also the founder of the Pinto Magalhães Bank, placed Fábio Lemos in control of Sonae in the turbulent years following the Carnation Revolution. During that period, the company was nationalized and then reprivatized.
In 1982, Afonso Pinto de Magalhães gave 16% of Sonae to Belmiro de Azevedo, who had been admitted to Sonae in 1965. After the death of the founder, Belmiro de Azevedo reached the majority of the capital, with 54.6%, taking control of the company.[5]
During the 1980s, Sonae began its fast growth. In 1985, Sonae Investimentos SGPS, S.A. was created and the group entered the Lisbon Stock Exchange.[6] It was also in the early 1980s that Sonae began its business diversification strategy through acquisitions and the creation of new investments.
The group entered into the modern distribution market by opening the first hypermarket in Portugal, "Continente", in Matosinhos. Two years later, Sonae launched seven takeover bids to seven companies, which allowed the business group to grow in various business areas.[7]
In 1993, Sonae Indústria expanded its investments by acquiring a controlling position in Spanish company Tafisa, which allowed the company to extend its business segment. Posteriorly, another important step was taken when Sonae entered into the specialized retail area with the launch of Worten.
In 1998, with Paulo de Azevedo leading the project, Optimus was born.[8] The mobile operator merged with Zon in 2013, giving rise to NOS.
In 2007, Paulo de Azevedo took over the leadership of the Sonae group, succeeding his father, Belmiro de Azevedo.[9]
In March 2015, Belmiro de Azevedo announced his resignation as Sonae chairman. Paulo de Azevedo was chosen as the new chairman and CEO of the Sonae group, sharing the executive committee presidency with Ângelo Paupério, who was the vice president of Sonae until that point.[10]
In 2018, Cláudia Azevedo was elected executive president of Sonae by the biggest shareholder company of the group, the Efanor. Belmiro de Azevedo's daughter started functions in May 2019, replacing the group Co-CEOs, Paulo de Azevedo and Ângelo Paupério.[11]
Currently, Sonae has an organizational structure separated by different business areas, which include the following subholdings:
MC
MC is the leader in the Portuguese food retail market with an important role in the health, well-being, and beauty sector in the Iberian Peninsula. It has 1,411 stores, comprising the brands: Arenal, Bagga, Continente, Continente Bom Dia, Continente Modelo, Continente Online, Dr. Wells, Elergone Energias, Go Natural, Meu Super, Note!, Wells and Zu.
Zeitreel
Zeitreel is the largest Portuguese fashion group, responsible for Sonae's specialized retail area in sports and clothing. Its portfolio includes the brands Salsa (jeans, clothing, and accessories), MO (clothing, footwear, and accessories), Zippy (baby and child clothing, footwear, and accessories), and Losan (specialized in wholesale children's clothing with a strong international presence).
Worten
A leading omnichannel retail company of products and services, focusing on appliances and electronics with a total of 276 physical stores. It also has a strong online presence, complemented by the expansion of its marketplace. It includes the brands Worten, Worten Mobile, and Worten Resolve.
Universo
Universo is the business unit coordinating the financial services offered by Sonae companies, transforming how families and small businesses manage their finances by innovating with simple financial solutions that positively impact people's daily lives. This segment includes the Universo Card (Payments, Card, Personal Credit, and Insurance), the Cartão Dá (meal card, gift, and rewards), Universo Flex (financing for online purchases), MoneyGram, and in-store credit services.
Bright Pixel
Bright Pixel Capital has an active portfolio management strategy, aiming to create and manage a set of technology companies related to retail, telecommunications, and cybersecurity. It supports the company's strategy and operations, maximizing shareholder return on the portfolio of participated companies. Currently, its portfolio includes WeDo Technologies, Bizdirect, S21 Sec, Inovretail.
Sonae Sierra
Sierra operates in the real estate sector with an integrated approach, managing investments, real estate promotion, design and construction, asset management and leasing, and sustainability and ESG services. It seeks robust platforms from which to create solid investment return strategies in different parts of the world. From commercial spaces to public or residential spaces, from project management to turnkey projects, Sierra is at the forefront of sector knowledge and is, therefore, the ideal partner for developing innovative concepts.
Sonae owns 100% of Sonae Sierra's capital.
NOS
NOS is a telecommunications and entertainment group offering a wide range of telecommunications services to all market segments: personal, residential, business, and wholesale. It has a prominent position in subscription TV services, next-generation broadband services, telephony, and film distribution in Portugal. Sonae holds 37.4% of NOS's capital.
Innovation
In 2012, Sonae invested more than 70 million Euros in research in the retail sector, in a programme that involved around 3,200 employees. In 2014, Sonae compiled a book with more than 80 innovations developed during 2013, in areas like Health or Technology, many of them with national and international prizes.[12]
Recognition
Sonae has received awards and distinctions in a number of areas, having been recognised as one of the Most Ethical Companies in the world,[13] as Human Capital Master[14] and with the ICSC Solal Marketing Awards.[15] According to the latest edition of the Global Powers of Retailing report, carried out by Deloitte and the American magazine Stores, Sonae is one of the 250 largest retailers in the world, positioning itself at 155 place, which is equivalent to an increase of 10 places from the previous ranking.[16] In 2015, Sonae's major retail brands were distinguished as "Trusted Brands", according to the international study carried out for the 15th consecutive year by the Reader's Digest Selections.[17] It is the second most desired company to work by Portuguese university students, according to a survey conducted by Spark Agency and Economics and Management School at Minho University.[18] The company was recognized by Kaizen Institute for its continuous improvement. Continente was honoured with the title "Kaizen Ambassador", for its work carried out in store operations, and Worten was the winner in the "Excellence in Quality" category, for its sales force management project.[19]
Sonae brands (Continente, Worten, Sport Zone, Wells and Zippy) were the most valued by consumers, in the fourth edition of Consumer Choice Awards.[20]
José Sócrates Carvalho Pinto de Sousa, commonly known as José Sócrates, is a Portuguese politician who was the prime minister of Portugal from 12 March 2005 to 21 June 2011. For the second half of 2007, he acted as the president-in-office of the Council of the European Union.
União Desportiva de Leiria, commonly known as União de Leiria, is a Portuguese football club based in Leiria. Founded on 6 June 1966, it currently plays in the Liga Portugal 2, holding home matches at Estádio Dr. Magalhães Pessoa, with a 23,888-seat capacity.
Belmiro Mendes de Azevedo was a Portuguese entrepreneur, ranked by Forbes as the 605th richest person in the world (2008), as well as the 3rd richest in Portugal, with an estimated wealth of US$ 2 billion. He owned a controlling stake in Sonae SGPS, one of the largest business groups in Portugal, which also operates in Spain, Greece, Germany, Italy, Turkey and Brazil.
Optimus Comunicações, S.A. was a Portuguese GSM/UMTS/LTE mobile operator. As of 16 May 2014, Optimus was merged with ZON Multimédia and formed a new company called NOS. Optimus was a wholly owned subsidiary of Sonaecom.
Altice Portugal is the largest telecommunications service provider in Portugal. Since June 2, 2015, the company has been a wholly owned subsidiary of Altice, a multinational cable and telecommunications company with a presence in France, Israel, Belgium, Luxembourg, Portugal, French West Indies/Indian Ocean Area, the Dominican Republic, and Switzerland. The assets in Portugal were sold to Altice in 2015 per request of Oi SA to reduce debt. The African assets were mostly sold for the same reason. Portugal Telecom, SGPS SA was split in separate companies: PT Portugal and Pharol, which owns a 27,5% stake in Oi.
José Manuel Rodrigues "Joe" BerardoGCIH, ComIH, is a Portuguese and South African businessman, investor, and art collector. According to Portuguese magazine Exame, he had an estimated net worth of €598 million in 2010, making him one of the wealthiest people in Portugal at the time. Starting around the 2010–2014 Portuguese financial crisis when both the Portuguese Republic finances and banking system collapsed, he has been involved in several controversies and legal issues which have led to the arrestment of his bank accounts, his companies' assets and himself due to ongoing legal investigations.
Vodafone Portugal – Comunicações Pessoais, S.A., a full subsidiary of the Vodafone Group, is the second mobile operator in Portugal, both chronologically and in market share. Its competitors are NOS and MEO.
NOS, SGPS S.A. is a Portuguese telecommunications and media company which provides mobile and fixed telephony, cable television, satellite television and internet. The company resulted from the merger in 2013 of two of the country's major telecommunications companies: Zon Multimédia and Sonae's Optimus Telecommunications.
Isabel dos Santos is an Angolan businesswoman, the eldest child of Angola's former President José Eduardo dos Santos, who ruled the country as a dictator from 1979 to 2017. Once considered Africa's richest woman according to Forbes magazine, with a net worth exceeding US$2 billion, she was dropped from the magazine's list in January 2021 after the freezing of her assets in Angola, Portugal and the Netherlands. She owes $340 million to the Portuguese company PT Ventures.
The Internet in Portugal achieved a penetration rate of about 64% of the population in 2012. With an average peak Internet access speed of 34.5 megabits per second, Portugal stood seventeenth on the list of countries with the fastest Internet access.
Pedro Mendonça Pinto is a Portuguese-American journalist and communications professional. Currently he is the founder and CEO of a sports communications agency called Empower Sports*. Previously, he worked as managing director of communications at UEFA in Switzerland. Pinto was also a sports anchor for CNN International in Atlanta and London, covering the world’s highest profile events, including 2002 FIFA World Cup and UEFA Champions League finals.
Delta Cafés is a Portuguese coffee roasting and coffee packaging company headquartered in Campo Maior, Alentejo. The company was founded in 1961 and is among the top market leaders in the Iberian Peninsula. Founded by Rui Nabeiro (1931-2023), its conglomerate includes interests in agribusiness, agriculture, real estate, hotels, and other businesses.
Duarte Paulo Teixeira de Azevedo, is since 2000 chairman of Sonaecom, son and successor of the founder of the business empire Sonae, Belmiro de Azevedo, former chairman of the Board of Directors of the company. Paulo de Azevedo in 2007 assumed the leadership of the Sonae Group, succeeding his father.
Zippy is a Portuguese brand specialized in babies and infants, that serves parents and children from birth to preteen. It offers a wide range of clothing and accessories, childcare products, furniture and toys, at very affordable prices.
Prozis is an internet-based Portuguese brand that pertains to the Prozis.group and is active in the sports nutrition sector. The company has operational headquarters in Esposende and for tax purposes is headquartered in Madeira Island’s special economic zone. Prozis was founded in 2007 by Miguel Milhão. In 2015, it employed over 230 people and had a revenue of more than 45 million euros. By 2016, It already was one of the biggest sports nutrition online stores in Europe, with over 800,000 registered and active customers across more than 100 markets. Besides selling sports supplements online and in large supermarket chains, it also produces them on a large scale at its production facility in Póvoa de Lanhoso, in which an amount of 5 million euros was invested. Its research and development center is located in Maia.
Bruno Miguel de Azevedo Gaspar de Carvalho, known as Bruno de Carvalho, is a Portuguese businessman, sports commentator and DJ who was the 42nd president of sports club Sporting CP from 2013 to 2018. He became the first Sporting president to be dismissed by associates of the club, four months after being re-elected with 87% of votes.
Hilton Food Group plc is a food packaging business. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index.
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António de Magalhães Pires de Lima, usually known as António Pires de Lima, is a Portuguese economist, business administrator and politician. He served as Minister of Economy of Portugal between 2013 and 2015 in the Pedro Passos Coelho cabinet. He was CEO of Sumol + Compal and Unicer. He is a founding partner of Horizon Equity Partners, a Portuguese investment management and private equity firm. In 2021, Pires de Lima left the CDS-PP party after decades of prominent membership which included positions as party vice president under the leadership of Paulo Portas, member of parliament (MP) and head of the Portuguese Ministry of Economy. He currently is the CEO of Brisa - Autoestradas de Portugal.
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