RA Sonae 59.indd

06 

Sustainability Report 

Sonae SGPS, S.A.

05 

.Index 

1. Chairman’s Statement 

07 

10 

10 

10 

13 

15 

16 

16 

16 

17 

18 

18 

19 

22 

24 

25 

27 

29 

33 

33 

38 

46 

50 

56 

62 

69 

74 

2. Sonae Group business approach and portfolio 

2.1 Governance Model 

Share Ownership 

Holding Company Structure 

Group Ombudsman 

3. Our approach towards sustainable management 

Shareholder Value 

Environment in the Governance Model 

Knowledge 

Community and Education 

3.1 Sonae Holding’s role in relation to the management practices of sub-holdings 

Global Compact and Sustainable Development 

3.2. Values and Principles 

3.3. Managing New Risks: Strategic and Operational 

Sonae Risk Management Process 

Business Risk Model 

4. Commitments and Guidance to the sub-holdings 

5. Main Group Sustainability Milestones 

6. Examples of Sustainability Strategy in action in the sub-holdings 

6.1 Risk Management 

6.2 Eco-Efficiency 

6.3 Business Chain 

6.4 Human Capital 

6.5 Stakeholder Dialogue 

6.6 Community Involvement 

7. New Risks transformed into New Markets and New Businesses 

Glossary

The publication of our first Sonae Group Sustainability Report 

reflects our intention to communicate in a transparent way with 

our key stakeholders, in particular investors, employees and the 

general public.

1.Chairman’s Statement 

This Report describes how sustainability is incorporated into the Sonae Group’s management structure and practices, 

with special emphasis on corporate governance and risk management; the commitments that Sonae SGPS, as the 

Sonae Group holding company, makes in relation to our sub-holdings, in its role as the manager of a portfolio of 

diversified businesses; and a range of sustainability practices that have been or are being implemented across the 

Sonae Group. The Report demonstrates how Sonae, in addition to creating economic value, acts responsibly both 

environmentally and socially. 

Although this is the Group’s first sustainability report, it is a continuation and extension of the work begun in 2001, 

when we published our first Group Environmental Report. Each of our sub-holdings have been making progress in 

terms of “walking the talk” of sustainability, as the following pages will show. All sub-holdings, with the exception 

of Sonae Capital, will issue Sustainability Reports during 2007. In the case of Sonae Sierra, 2006 will be the third 

consecutive year for which an outstanding sustainability report has been published, an achievement of which we can 

feel justifiably proud. 

The specific characteristics, history and market sectors of each of the Group’s businesses have been determining 

factors in the manner in which sustainability continues to be integrated into the governance model of each, and explain 

the differing speeds of implementation. As a portfolio manager, we encourage our businesses to seek constantly 

to improve the manner in which we integrate social and environmental issues into our management practices, to 

develop appropriate reporting and measurement, and to anticipate new trends in order to identify new business 

opportunities arising from sustainability. Due to our specific circumstances and challenges however, each sub-holding 

is directly responsible for identifying the specific opportunities that may arise from this integrated approach, and to 

define the best strategy to maximise value creation. 

In addition to the key role of Sonae SGPS to identify overall Group guidelines in this area, one of other main tasks is to 

play an active role in international organisations in which the sustainability agenda is being developed and defined. In 

this respect, Sonae SGPS continues to play an active role in the World Business Council for Sustainable Development 

and in activities undertaken by the Portuguese branch of this organisation, the BCSD Portugal. 

In 2004, Sonae SGPS signed the United Nations Global Compact, a voluntary commitment which involves the 

disclosure of information each year on how its 10 principles, covering labour, environmental and anti-corruption 

practices, are applied and complied with. It is an area that the Group is actively working on to improve. In 2005, Sonae 

SGPS also signed the World Safety Declaration, a document that was approved at the XVII World Health and Safety at 

Work Congress. This declaration aims to establish goals and define criteria for the evaluation of safety improvements 

introduced at the workplace, and seeks to encourage signatory companies to cooperate in the search for better 

solutions and to report results achieved at the next Congress meeting that will take place in 2008. Sonae will be 

present and participate actively in this event. 

In this document therefore, we report on our practices and explain our ambitions and commitments, but we also 

accept our limitations. At the same time, we commit to constantly strive to improve in these areas which are so crucial 

for business and society at large. 

Belmiro de Azevedo 

Chairman 

Sustainability Report 06 

Sonae SGPS, S.A. 

05

Sonae was founded in 1959 in the wood products business and today is a diversified, integrated 

group made up of different management teams. In 2006, the Sonae Group generated turnover of 

4,383 million euros and directly employed 33,181 people spread across several continents, cultures 

and races. In Portugal, the gross value added (GVA) generated to society was 0.8% of Portuguese 

GVA and our employees represented 0.6% of the Portuguese employed population. 

6 Sonae SGPS, S.A. Sustainability Report 06

2. Sonae Group business approach 

and portfolio 

“If we have the right financial resources, shareholder stability, professional management, 

good educational and training levels as part of our culture and principles, than 

we have the key ingredients to work together as a team and succeed in the long term” 

Belmiro de Azevedo, speech given to Sonae Industria Managers, 26th September 2000, Troia, Portugal 

Sonae started business in Maia, in the wood products 

business and more specifically the production of highpressure 

decorative laminates. During its first twenty 

years of existence, Sonae developed as a small to medium 

size business, focused on the area of wood based panels. 

During the 1980s, the company began a period of rapid 

growth, which coincided with Portugal’s entry into the 

European Union. During this period, Sonae also began 

a process of diversification through the acquisition of 

a supermarket chain, followed by the launch of the first 

Continente hyper-market in Portugal. 

Today, Sonae SGPS, SA is the group holding company, 

managing a diversified portfolio of businesses: 

Modelo Continente (food and non-food retail), Sonae 

Sierra (development, management and investment 

in shopping centres), Sonaecom (mobile and fixed 

telecommunications, media, Internet and IT services) 

and Sonae Capital (tourism, engineering services 

and real estate development, facility management, 

insurance brokerage and risk management, and seed 

and risk capital). 

During these years of growth, the various group companies 

developed their businesses in an independent manner, 

identifying specific strategies in relation to their markets. 

Sonae Indústria, the Group’s first business area in wood 

based panels, was spun off from the Group in 2005. The 

spin off was considered necessary to give Sonae Indústria 

improved access to international financial markets to help 

fund its future growth. 

Modelo Continente is currently operating entirely in 

Portugal but is considering possible options for future 

growth outside the country. Sonae Sierra has focused on 

an international strategy. It currently has a portfolio of 

major shopping centre projects under construction and 

centres already in operation, in Brazil, Germany, Greece, 

Spain and Italy, in addition to Portugal. Sonaecom 

has been operating in Portugal since 1994 (but only 

known as Sonaecom since 1999), and is focused on 

Telecommunications, Media, and Software and Systems 

Information (SSI). Over the years, Modelo Continente was 

listed on the Portuguese securities market (Euronext, 

Lisbon) between 1987 and 2006, and Sonae Sierra 

between 1997 and 2001. Currently, Sonae SGPS and 

Sonaecom are those companies listed on the Euronext. 

In view of the economic, social and environmental 

impacts of the Sonae Group, we have publicly committed 

to develop our business activities based on the principles 

of sustainable development, which imply a continuous 

challenge to maximise positive and minimise potentially 

negative impacts on the environment and society. 

Share Price Performance 

(Base 100) 

200 

180 

160 

140 

120 

100 

80 

60 

40 

Dec.01 

Jun.02 

Dec.02 

Jun.03 Dec.03 Jun.04 Dec.04 Jun.05 Dec.05 

Jun.06 

Dec.06 

Sonae SGPS 

Sonaecom 



07

The Group portfolio is currently structured as follows: 


100% 50% 51,92% 100% 

Modelo Continente Sonae Sierra Sonaecom Sonae Capital 

Food and Non Food Retail Shopping Centers Telecommunications Services 

Hypermarkets 

Supermarkets 

Consumer Electronics 

Apparel 

Sports Goods 

Computers 

DIY 

Kidswear 

Travel Agencies 

Pharmacies 

Mobile Communications 

Portugal 

Sierra Investments 

Sierra Management 

Sierra Development 

Sonae Sierra Brazil 

Portugal 

Spain 

Greece 

Germany 

Italy 

Brazil 

Mobile 

Fixed 

Media 

S&SI 1 

Portugal 

Tourism 

Engineering Services 

and Real Estate 

Development 

Facility Management 

Insurance Brokerage 

and 

Risk Management 

Seed and Risk 

Capital 

Portugal 

France 

Brazil 

= Size of Free Float 

1 Software & Systems Integration 

Each of the four sub-holdings has specific environmental 

and social impacts as a direct result of their activities, as 

the chart below shows. 

Major Impacts by sub-holding 

Modelo Continente Sonae Sierra Sonaecom Sonae Capital 

Environmental 

. Energy 

. Transport 

. Waste 

. Climate Change 

. Land Use 

. Supply Chain 

. Energy 

. Transport 

. Waste 

. Climate Change 

. Water Consumption 

. Land Use 


. Energy 

. Waste 

. Electromagnetic Fields 

. Energy 

. Waste 

. Transport 

. Water 

. Land Use 

Social 

. Direct and Indirect job 

creation 

. Community involvement 

. Health and Safety 

(employees, customers 

and visitors) 

. Employee satisfaction 

. Food safety 


. Direct and Indirect job 

creation 



(employees, tenants, 

suppliers and visitors) 

. Responsible Procurement 



. Digital Inclusion 




and visitors) 


. Information Society 

. Direct and Indirect 

job creation 




and visitors) 

. Food safety 


In today’s complex world, the Group’s impacts, risks and 

opportunities are interlinked, and involve economic, environmental, 

social and governance factors. This report aims 

to inform our stakeholders about the way we have been 

managing these impacts and risks. 


The Economic and Social Impact of the Sonae Group 

Our Human Capital 

Employees* 

Direct employment by Sub holding 

Modelo Continente 

Sonae Sierra 


Sonae Capital 

* Staff numbers as at 31.12.2006 

3% 1% 2% 

Type of job contract at Sonae Group 

15% 

94% 

Our Wealth Generation 

Direct Economic Value Generated and its distribution in 2006 

(Million euros) 

Economic Value 

Retained 

Total Economic 

Value Distributed 

Total of Direct 

Economic 

Value Generated 

0 

401 

1,000 

2,000 

3,000 

4,000 

4,536 

4,937 

The importance of the Sonae group for the Portuguese Economy in 2006 1 : 

Gross Value Added (GVA) in Portugal represents 0.8% of Portuguese GVA 

Employees in Portugal represent 0.6% of total Portuguese population employed 

5,000 

6,000 

1 Based on data from the National Statistical Institute (INE): 

Portuguese population figures and preliminary GVA 

Permanent Contract 

Temporary 

85% 

Total Nº Employees = 33,181; 67% Female; 33 % Male 

Total Nº Employees in Portugal = 98% 

Total Nº Employees abroad = 2% 

Our Wealth 

Economic Value Distributed to our stakeholders 

Structure of the Economic Value Distributed 

13% 

4% 

1% 

Operating Costs 

Staff Costs 

Providers of Capital 

Government 

82% 

Operating Costs = External Suppliers and Services + Cost of Goods 

Sold and Materials Consumed + Other Costs 

Staff Costs = Employee Wages ands Benefits 

Payments to Providers of Capital = Financial Costs + Dividends 

Payments to Government = Taxes (excluding deferred taxes) 

Wealth Generated by the Sonae Group 2006 

Turnover (Sales + services rendered) 4,384 

Turnover in Portugal 4,060 

Gross Value Added (GVA) 1,112 

Operational Profit EBIT 357 

Operational Cash Flow EBITDA 599 

Amounts in million Euro 

GVA = Turnover + Changes in stocks + Own work capitalised + 

Supplementary income - cost of goods sold and materials 

consumed - External supplies and services 

For more detailed financial information about the Sonae 

Group, please go to the Investors Relations section on the 

company website at www.sonae.pt 



09

2.1. Governance Model 

“The issues of governance and the transparency of a company in relation to markets is 

one of the corner stones of a credible and sustainable market economy. It is up to all of 

us to contribute towards preserving the credibility and sustainability of the economic 

model in which the organisation of our society is placed.... 

...[we are] increasingly responsible for the transparency and the way in which we 

prepare, control and communicate relevant information to the markets. We know that 

this information is vital for investors and financiers to take decisions”. 

Belmiro de Azevedo, XX Economic Round Table Meeting, November 2002, Barcelona 

“ ... we have consistently taken, over the years, clear decisions in favour of free and fair 

trade, transparent reporting to the authorities and society, internal social cohesion 

within the group, and have actively supported international organizations dedicated 

to spreading principles of good governance. We were the first Portuguese company to 

join the World Business Council for Sustainable Development, and we were also one of 

the founding fathers of the Portuguese Chapter of the Council. We have also joined the 

European Corporate Governance Institute” 

Belmiro de Azevedo, IV Top Managers’ Meeting – Sonae Sierra, December 2004 

Hand in hand with the growth of the Sonae Group has 

been a constant concern to adopt best worldwide 

management practices in relation to governance 

and sustainable development, as well as the need 

to understand the signals coming from international 

organisations in order to anticipate management trends 

and potential business opportunities. Our values and 

principles which were finalised and published in 1999 

reflect this reality, and are, currently, wholly compatible 

with the demands of international society. Sonae seeks 

to associate itself with leading international organisations, 

requiring management to strive to continually update 

and improve itself, in order to meet the expectations of 

our various stakeholders and of society in general. 

Sonae Group Share Capital Ownership 

Efanor Investimentos, a family holding company, of which 

Belmiro de Azevedo is chairman, holds a majority stake 

in Sonae SGPS. It held approximately 53% of the shares 

and 56% of the voting rights at 31 December 2006. Sonae 

SGPS is listed in Lisbon on the Euronext stock exchange. 

The remaining free float is widely held. 

Although the Sonae Group is controlled by Belmiro de 

Azevedo through a majority stake in the share capital 

and voting rights, the Group is not run as a typical 

family business, where bloodlines can take precedence 

over individual merit and family issues can confuse 

business affairs. In our opinion, the existence of an 

active and involved reference shareholder also brings 

greater stability to management, allows a consistent and 

longer term view to be taken, facilitates the process of 

motivating employees and brings greater willingness 

to seek and adopt innovation, while at the same time 

promoting a balanced and equitable approach to all 

of our shareholders and other stakeholders. It also 

means that there are no conflicts resulting from the 

sharing of power between controlling shareholders or 

from the separation of the interest of shareholders and 

management. Responsibilities are focused and very 

clear and a management system based on trust and 

transparency becomes an imperative. 

Sonae Holding Structure 

A management team supported by one key shareholder 

needs to include the very best managers available. They 

should possess a high level of drive, curiosity and a desire 

to learn about new ideas and concepts, and they should 

be brave enough to question the status quo and to 

propose new approaches to business. It is fundamental 

that there should be open and transparent discussions 

among management about business strategy and its 

operational implementation. 

Therefore, Sonae has developed procedures to ensure that: 

. strategies are evaluated 

. day to day management is analysed critically 

. risks are monitored 

. there is a continuously developing internal control system 


“It is crucial that the company is able to implement internal procedures that allow 

strategies to be evaluated, management to be followed up on and critically appraised, 

risks to be monitored and internal control systems implemented. And at the same time, 

ensure sustainability in the medium/long term, by adopting environmental, social and 

labour policies which preserve natural resources and place value on human capital.” 

Belmiro de Azevedo, XX Economic Round Table Meeting, November 2002, Barcelona 



11

. business is sustainable in the medium and long term 

. environmental policies are adopted to improve ecoefficiency 

and to minimise our environmental footprint 

. policies and processes are adopted to maximise our 

human capital 

As shown below, the two key governing bodies of Sonae 

SGPS are the Board of Directors made up of 5 executive and 

4 non-executive members (of which 3 are independent), 

and the Executive Committee. An important feature of the 

Executive Committee is that it includes the CEOs of each 

of the sub-holdings. This provides a direct link between 

each of the businesses areas and the Holding company, 

which facilitates the sharing of business strategies across 

the Group. In this way autonomy is given to each subholding 

to decide the best means of managing its own 

businesses, while ideas are shared and activity is coordinated 

at the top Group management level. 

Management of Strategic Decisions 

Executive 

Álvaro Portela 

Ângelo Paupério 

Nuno Jordão 

Paulo de Azevedo 

Board Audit and Finance Committee 

Chairman: Michel Bon 

Álvaro Cuervo 

Luiz Lampreia 

Nuno de Azevedo 


Board of Directors 

Chairman: Belmiro de Azevedo 

Non-Executive 

Álvaro Cuervo 

Luiz Lampreia 

Michel Bon 

Nuno de Azevedo 

Board Nomination and 

Remuneration Committee 

Chairman: Belmiro de Azevedo 

Luiz Lampreia 

Michel Bon 

Approves: 

. Annual Report and 

Accounts 

. Annual Business 

Portfolio Strategy 

. Annual Business 

Plan and Significant 

Changes thereto 

Decisions about 

Strategy Implementation 

Vice Presidents 

Álvaro Portela 

Ângelo Paupério 

Investors Relations José Luis Amorim 

Executive Committee 

CEO: Belmiro de Azevedo 

Vice Presidents 

Nuno Jordão 

Paulo de Azevedo 

Human Resources José Côrte-Real 

Responsible for: 

. Operational 

Management 

. Business Portfolio 

Management 

. Financial 

Coordination 

. Career Development 

Among Top Managers 

Corporate Communications Cristina Carneiro 

Management 

Control and 

Administration 

José Luis Amorim 

Finance 

André Sousa 

Legal 

Luzia Gomes Ferreira 

Audit and Risk 

Management 

Domingos Sequeira 

Tax Management 

David Ferreira 

Group knowledge sharing and coordination bodies 

also exist, such as: 

. Finance Committee 

. Audit Committee 

. Human Resources Consultative Group 

. Innovation Forum 

. Sustainability Forum 

The Executive Committee of 

Sonae SGPS is made up of the 

CEOs of each of the Group 

sub-holdings 


Sonae Group Ombudsman 

Via its website (www.sonae.pt), fax and mail, the Sonae 

Group has always given staff and the general public 

direct access to the Sonae Group Ombudsman, who 

reports directly to the Chairman of the Sonae Group. 

This has proven to be an effective way of facilitating the 

reporting of complaints, which are followed up internally 

by a manager of the Sonae Holding Company to make 

sure that independence and freedom of opinion are 

guaranteed and that all issues are treated equally and 

fairly. In all our businesses, employees are encouraged 

to contribute suggestions and to openly communicate 

with management on any issues which may impair their 

responsibilities or may threaten their well being. 

The Sonae Ombudsman in 2006 

During 2006, 1.573 claims were received by the Sonae Group ombudsman. 

The average time to resolve a claim in 2006 was 34 days with a falling trend in all 

quarters to reach 22 days in the last quarter of the year. Considering the number of 

claims received and the complexity of the problems involved, this is a demonstration 

of the effort made by the services involved to improve turn around time. 

Claims still not resolved at year end 2006 (2% or 38 cases) relate to recent cases or 

those still in analysis. 

Almost all claims are related to customers (99% in 2006).

© Klaus Post

3.Our approach towards Sustainable Management 

“We are in favour of competition and believe that a key feature of successful organisations 

should be their concern for the personal development of their employees as well as the 

strength of their leadership. 

From the point of view of Corporate Social Responsibility, a company cannot be simply 

a money making machine. In addition to giving the maximum return on investment to 

shareholders, businesses have to earn the respect of the societies in which they operate, 

preserving social cohesion, protecting the environment, and ensuring the long term 

sustainability of the planet on which we live”. 

Belmiro de Azevedo, Leadership Forum, London Business School, November 2006 

The management of sustainability at the Sonae Group 

has always been part of the strategic development of the 

company. Sustainable Development and its application 

to business has become one of the main concerns of 

the Group, while it has also been perceived as a way of 

developing new businesses and reducing costs. 

Human capital has also always had a key place in the 

growth strategy of the Group. In addition to training 

which is specific to the improvement needs of each 

employee, employees are encouraged to develop their 

creativity and constantly search for excellence. “A thirst 

for excellence, and a habit of constantly challenging the 

businesses, demands a culture of permanent innovation 

and entrepreneurship” 1 : a situation that can only be 

achieved with a responsible and professional team. 

In the same way, environmental issues have always 

been an important part of the Group’s management. 

For example, various training sessions have taken place 

on eco efficiency so that an internal Group culture 

exists which allows the continuous identification of new 

methods of putting this concept into action, with the 

goal of minimizing energy and water consumption, and 

maximizing waste recovery. 

This approach has been progressively integrated into 

our management model, and implemented by each of 

the sub-holdings by actions specific to their businesses. 

We have made progress in the way that we practise the 

principles of sustainable development, but recognise that 

we will have to develop a more structured approach to 

sustainability in particular in relation to international best 

practice guidelines and the growing importance of nonfinancial 

information. 

Sonae Approach to Sustainable Management 

Environment 

Social 

Governance 

Maximization of future Economic 

Value of the Company 

. Eco Efficiency 

. Responsible Environmental 

Management 

. Implementation of Environmental 

Management Systems 



Sustainable management means managing our company 

in order to maximise its profitability, while internalising 

environmental, social and governance issues into our 

business strategy, since these will have an influence on our 

financial performance. Such a complex subject that is of 

concern to all Group businesses led our Chairman in 1994 to 

challenge all sub-holdings to develop an environmentally 

responsible attitude towards business, and to consider the 

environment as a competitive advantage. 

. Knowledge 

. Empowerment 

. Matching skills with job 

functions 

. Creativity 

. Questioning status-quo 


(social, educational support) 

. Values 

. Business Principles 

. Risk Management 

. Transparancy 

. Group Knowledge sharing 

and coordination 

In the same way, environmental issues have always been 

an important part of the Group’s management. 

1 

Belmiro de Azevedo, Leadership Fórum, London Business School, November 2006 



15

Environment in the Governance Model 

In 1995, Sonae become a founder member of the World 

Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD), 

thus formally demonstrating our conviction that 

environmental issues would become key factors in the 

success of companies and that business strategy based 

on the principles of sustainable development represented 

good corporate governance. 

Between 1995 and 2000, the Sonae Group ran several 

workshops, conferences and internal eco-efficiency 

programmes, and in 1999 launched the ECO 2 XXI 

programme, aimed at encouraging eco-efficiency across 

the Group. In 2000, Sonae broadened the composition 

of the Environment Forum to include Environmental 

Coordinators from all sub-holdings. It was a platform 

for sharing information, experiences and best practices 

across Group, and for challenging the sub-holdings to 

take action on environmental issues. The Forum was 

responsible for planning, organising and animating 

training and awareness events as well as for general 

communication of environmental matters across Sonae’s 

businesses. It also had the responsibility of advising the 

Board of Directors of Sonae on all issues concerning the 

environment. The Chairman of the Forum was appointed 

by the Board. 

In 2001, the Sonae Group published its first Environmental 

report. A further report was issued in 2003, which included 

key environmental indicators from each sub-holding. 

Between 2000 and 2004, a quarterly environmental 

newsletter - Eco News - was also published for distribution 

to all Group employees, available both in print and on the 

Internet, in order to increase environmental awareness 

and encourage best practices. 

In 2005, the Environment Forum evolved into a 

Sustainability Forum and in 2006, all sub-holdings were 

invited to strengthen their sustainability strategies 

and issue sustainability reports. Some sub-holdings 

have already begun this process, while others are now 

beginning to develop a more structured approach to 

sustainable management. 

Knowledge 

In Sonae, people must have the desire to 

learn, and they must embrace change as 

part of their careers (summary speech by 

Belmiro Azevedo, Sonae Indústria Managers 

Meeting, September 2000, Troia.) 

In order to develop a business management system that 

is able to understand, anticipate and incorporate the 

challenges that today’s business world presents to our 

operations, we must be able to question the status-quo 

and think creatively. Continuously updated knowledge and 

the constant search for excellence constitute the corner 

stones of an innovative, modern and bold organisation. 

The training of all Sonae staff is a factor that differentiates 

Sonae Group management, since all staff are constantly 

challenged to learn. 

In 2004, the Sonae Learning Centre was set up in the 

Sonae headquarters building in Maia. This Centre is 

mainly targeted at specific training for top managers and 

technical employees, and its main purpose is to provide 

training, conferences, seminars, short and medium term 

courses, exhibitions and social events of various kinds. 

We have developed specific training sessions for business 

units, but also opportunites for longer term study such 

as Post-Graduation courses, specifically built to meet 

the skill improvement needs of our employees. These 

courses are developed in partnership with Portuguese 

and International universities. Some of our employees 

also complete MBAs and other post-graduate courses in 

the main European Business Schools 

Number of Sonae employees present in 

Learning Center courses 

Year Nº 

2005 18,694 

2006 19,062 


Community and Education 

We believe that business can contribute towards 

minimising the impact of social problems that are part 

of the society in which it operates. We also recognise 

that access to cultural activities through partnerships 

with other businesses, individuals or organisations, has a 

significant contribution to make to the development of 

society. Therefore, the Sonae Group has developed social 

initiatives among its sub-holdings to support projects that 

lead to positive long term results within the community. 

In 2006, around 300 undergraduates and graduates 

attended. During the day long event, the participants learn 

about the Sonae Group, and meet senior Sonae managers. 

The programme’s main aims are to allow talented young 

people to get to know the Sonae Group and to discover 

quality management potential in Portugal. 

Despite being independent from the Sonae Group, 

it is appropriate to mention the Belmiro de Azevedo 

Foundation, a private charitable institution which supports 

innovation and change in favour of the community, 

especially in the arts, science, technology, education and 

training. Through contributions made by sub-holdings to 

the Foundation, the Group in turn contributes towards a 

better educated and demanding civic society. Each subholding 

engages with the community both directly and 

via the Foundation. 

The Foundation also supports the children of employees 

with scholarships for those children with outstanding 

academic performance, in order to encourage their 

academic development. Between 2000 and 2006, sub 

holdings, through the Foundation donated a total of 

approximately 24 million euros. 

Since 1986, Sonae has organised the Contacto Programme, 

which takes place annually and to which final year 

undergraduates from Portuguese Universities and young 

post graduates with MBAs are invited. More than 3,500 

undergraduates have taken part in the programme since then, 

and several hundred have been invited to join the Group. 



17

3.1. Sonae Holding’s role in relation to the 

management practices of sub-holdings 

“A culture of innovation and entrepreneurship demands [...] a culture of risk taking. 

It demands that one puts confidence in people, creating organisations in which they 

individually are encouraged to fight against conformity, to constantly propose new 

solutions. It also demands that there exist in organisations performance reward and 

recognition systems, which are not exclusively based on results, in the strictest meaning 

of the term”. 


When he defined the “Ten Guiding Principles”, Belmiro de Azevedo also stated that 

the values “... should last a long time, should not be a code in the sense of a creed 

or mantra, and also could not be too specific at the risk of being too dogmatic and 

not leaving enough freedom to all our companies to change their behaviour without 

changing the values”. 

Belmiro de Azevedo, The Value and Limits of Ethical Codes in Business Activity 

The growth of the Sonae Group has taken place with a 

lean and agile management structure, designed to allow 

each company to have the capability of anticipating, 

adapting and reacting to change, which is one of the basic 

competitive advantages for the success of any company. 

This approach to management was already present in 1985 

when the Chairman defined the ten “guiding principles” 

for Sonae managers (see page 20). Already at that time, 

there was the concern of making the business grow 

in a unified and stable manner, but allowing creativity, 

flexibility and freedom of action by the managers of each 

Group company in order to encourage a bold attitude 

to identify business opportunities, and not run the risk 

of losing them because of excessive bureaucracy or 

functional issues. For the success of this management 

approach, professional human resources are needed, 

who combine boldness, a sense of responsibility for their 

actions together with a questioning attitude towards the 

world around them. 

A management style of this kind is closely associated 

with the visionary and guiding character of its leader, 

who constantly challenges the status quo both inside 

and outside the company, while at the same time setting 

himself as an example of frugality and rationality in the 

management of the group’s businesses and in personal 

working habits. 

The Group is thus united by a set of values and 

principles, by a governance model and by a common 

risk management methodology, in which it is expected 

and desirable that each sub-holding advances and grows 

in accordance with the opportunities identified in the 

markets in which it operates. The Group is therefore made 

up of many companies, consolidated into sub-holdings, 

each of which are in different phases of development in 

certain areas. 

Global Compact and Sustainable Development 

In 2004, Sonae SGPS signed up to the ten principles of the 

UN Global Compact, which asks companies to embrace, 

support and enact within their sphere of influence a 

set of core values in the areas of Human Rights, Labour 

Standards, the Environment and Anti-Corruption, Sonae 

thus committed itself publicly to report on the manner 

in which these principles are applied in the daily 

management of the Group. 

Some of these principles, such as the absence of child 

or forced labour, and the existence of anti corruption 

practices, are not only incorporated into Portuguese 

law but also are part of the Sonae values and principles, 

which are applied by all employees in all parts of the 

world where Sonae does business. 

Nonetheless, we recognise some limitations in our ability 

to control the practices of all our suppliers, and although 

we are not aware of any specific case along the value 

chains of our sub-holdings, we commit to find alternative 

suppliers if we discover any who are not complying with 

the Compact principles. Each sub-holding has been 

working and will continue to work on actions that move 

in the direction of these principles, and we are conscious 


of the need for certain aspects to be addressed with more 

specific actions in the future. One area will be to look more 

closely at increasing our influence on the management 

practices of our suppliers and subcontractors along the 

value chain, the scope of which will need to be defined 

with these key stakeholders. 

By signing the Global Compact, Sonae SGPS aims to drive 

its sub-holdings forward towards incorporating social, 

environmental and human issues in a more structured 

way into their daily management. It is each sub-holding’s 

responsibility to develop the appropriate approaches, 

methodologies and actions to implement, and they 

must analyse in a continuous and evolving manner, how 

sustainability is related to their core businesses. For this to 

be possible, creativity, a forward looking approach and a 

sense of opportunity are the key elements in the process. 

We believe that strengthening sustainability in 

the core business and governance model of our 

companies is fundamental to the continuous success 

of our “living” company. 

3.2. Values and Principles 

“Ethics in Business [...] is the relationship between business and society [...] The reality 

we face today is that businesses need a licence from society to operate. Or putting in 

another way, businesses need to earn the respect of society in order to operate. 

Even in countries where we know that our competitors are taking advantage of the local 

way of doing business through kickbacks, we should refuse that practice and stick 

to our values of integrity and transparency without any kind of compromise. Even if 

we have to lose the deal or have to give up doing business in the country, it will pay in 

the future. 

We do not have to make deals that do not fit the policy of the Group. The more we 

refuse, the bigger will be our contribution towards a more transparent relationship 

with competitors, authorities and clients.” 


A set of values and principles have always existed as part of 

the Group’s good management practices. Since 1985, the 

ten “guiding principles” defined below have been part of 

day to day management. They were targeted specifically 

at Group managers and focused on the key attributes that 

they should aspire to. Even at that time, the emphasis was 

put on a balance between leadership qualities, personnel 

development and competition on the one hand, and 

integrity, personal ethics, and community involvement, 

on the other. 



19

“There is no business that can justify any compromise with these [10] principles, or 

with values such as integrity, personal ethics and social responsibility. The fight against 

corruption, both public and private, has always been and will continue to be at the top 

of the agenda of a group like Sonae” 


These ten guiding principles are: 

01. To be a leader, or have the capability of becoming one 

02. To constantly improve their cultural knowledge 

03. To be available, and physically resistant during 

demanding working periods 

04. To accept criticism from superiors and subordinates, 

and consider and be able to respond in a 

constructive manner 

05. To have great respect for the work of subordinates, 

ensuring that they always have good working 

conditions, and have appropriate training to 

continuously improve their level of knowledge 

06. To be known inside and outside the company for the 

rectitude of their character 

07. To be highly demanding of themselves, be dedicated 

to their work and to find the appropriate balance 

between their personal and working lives 

08. To have a rigorous code of conduct and ethical values 

09. To accept the challenge of internal and external competition 

10. To continuously search for excellence, which will be 

achieved as a result of the cumulative impact of 

good decisions taken over time. 

Their publication gave the markets advanced warning as 

to how Sonae would focus on the professionalism and 

ethical behaviour of its staff. 

a spirit of cohesion, the shoots are open, unrestricted, 

signifying creativity. This is how Sonae sees its future. 

In 1999, the Sonae Group Business Values and Principles 

were defined, which evolved naturally from the ten 

“guiding principles” for managers, to a set of values and 

principles applicable to all employees and sub-holdings. 

They are flexible enough to allow each sub-holding 

the freedom to develop their own specific values and 

principles related to their own business problems and 

challenges. Working in several countries with different 

cultures and different ways of conducting business is an 

opportunity for our employees to broaden their mind set, 

improve their understanding of different cultures, and 

expand their professional and personal knowledge. 

All the above needs to be achieved with a high level of 

respect for people and the environment. This is why it is 

so important to maintain a consistent set of values that 

are visible in our past activities, so that we can be seen as 

credible players when we decide to implement projects 

with high levels of change, and which will have inevitable 

consequences for our companies and our employees. 

Sonae values and principles provide the foundation 

for the policies, organisational processes and risk 

management of the Group. 

In 1993, Sonae presented its new logo designed to signify 

the capability for growth and permanent innovation in 

the group, and the energy, flow and synergies among all 

its businesses. While the ring of fire is closed, signifying 

“For a group of Sonae’s size operating in different countries and cultures [...] there is 

often no way but to abide by our principles. Our Values and our Principles can be viewed 

as the glue that keeps us together and guarantees our strength and common future.” 



Values and Principles 

The Sonae Group, aware of its business and social responsibilities, and, regardless of 

the countries where its companies are located, undertakes to respect the following 

Values and Principles 

Business Culture 

Management 

To accept as a basic principle of good management, the 

duty of its directors to accept and welcome controls by 

stakeholders whether they be shareholders, market and 

financial analysts, suppliers, employees or customers. 

Leadership 

To develop skills that add value, enabling businesses to 

attain positions of leadership in the markets where they 

operate. 

Willingness to change 

To maintain, as a fundamental characteristic of the Group’s 

culture, a permanent willingness to change. 

Loyalty and control 

To base daily management practice on the principles of 

professionalism, loyalty, frugality, risk management, and 

the adoption of management methods that swiftly detect 

and correct adverse situations. 

Transparency 

To put into place procedures, which allow a true evaluation 

to be made of business performance and degree of 

compliance with Sonae values and principles, namely 

by obtaining the opinion of employees and outside 

observers. 

Responsibility Towards Employees 

Equal Treatment 

To implement a Human Resources Management policy 

that contains no form of discrimination on the grounds of 

race, sex, religion, nationality or social class. 

Professional Development 

To offer high levels of satisfaction to all employees, 

encouraging career development through access to 

training and educational programmes. 

Safety 

To provide working conditions which avoid risks to the 

health and safety of employees. 

Community Responsibilities 

Environmental Awareness 

To constantly improve the environmental performance of 

its products, processes and activities. 

Community Involvement 

To establish close ties with the community specifically 

through co-operation and support to cultural, sport and 

social institutions, in ways which are appropriate to each 

case. 

Openness to Society 

To disclose information about internal projects and 

activities targeted for employees, the media and the 

general public, but obviously keeping certain information 

confidential. 

Trust 

To develop relationships with business partners, namely 

customers and suppliers, which are based on high 

standards of trust. 

Ethics 

To establish relationships with third parties which 

are based on principles of honesty, integrity, and 

transparency. Any form of corruption even in a passive 

way is unacceptable. 

Independence from Political Power 

Independence 

To avoid financing political organisations and parties, as 

well as avoiding involvement in party political questions. 

However Sonae has the right to express itself publicly in 

the way it sees fit, to defend its values and interests. 

Co-operation 

To adopt a position of independence in relation to central 

and local government but with a willingness to co-operate 

with government in many different ways, for example in 

planning and executing development projects, whether 

they are for infrastructure construction or new legislation. 



21

3.3. 

Managing New Risks: 

Strategic and Operational 

“In the same way as Environmental Management and Social Responsibility, Risk 

Management is one of the components of the sustainable management of companies, 

since it contributes towards the continuous development of businesses through a greater 

knowledge and more effective management of the risks that can impact organisations. 

- we must be attentive to new risks that are emerging. Their nature and the ways in 

which they manifest themselves are quite clearly different from the so called “current” 

risks. To name but a few of those areas producing New Risks, I would choose information 

Technologies, Nano-Technology and Bio-Technology. We do not yet know the problems 

that these areas will bring us, but there are already some impacts that go from physical 

aspects through to ethical and moral issues. 

It is a great challenge to examine risks that we do not yet know and are still to come, 

since it is from them that new opportunities will arise, which I as a businessman am 

interested in exploring.” 

Belmiro de Azevedo, Managing Risk by Value Creation, Risk Management Forum, October 2005 

For Sonae , Risk Management must be a par t of 

management practice throughout the entire cycle 

of the planning and management of the businesses, 

from strategic to operational planning. It must also 

be part of the daily management decision making 

process, since knowledge and awareness of risk 

contribute towards increasing the quality and security 

of management actions. 

We recognise risk management as a fundamental building 

block of our approach, due on the one hand to its 

strategic nature and on the other to its contribution 

towards identifying new business opportunities, thus 

involving the entire organisation and constituting yet 

another factor of innovation and creativity. 

Risk management aligns strategy, processes, people, 

technologies and knowledge with the goal of identifying, 

evaluating and managing the uncertainties and threats 

that Sonae Group companies face. 

A wide variety of activities are included, which vary in 

importance according to the business areas involved. 

As far as business activity risks are concerned, greater 

importance is in some instances given to facilities and 

people risks, while in others, risks concerning production 

equipment and information systems technologies are 

more important. 

In those businesses with the highest public exposure 

to financial markets, customers and the general public, 

reputation and image risks take on great importance, 

both those relating to the corporate image and those 

concerned with protecting brand images of Group 

companies. In this respect, special attention is given to 

environmental risks, those relating to food and work place 

safety, and also visitor safety (as is the case of shopping 

centres and stores, which are visited by more than a 

million customers each day). 

In a management approach such as the one 

implemented in the Sonae Group, internal and 

external audits are extremely relevant as a part of 

risk management and control processes. Internal 

Audit is a management practice that exists since the 

1980s. Our approach has developed over the years so 

that today Internal Audit covers not only traditional 

audits (financial and compliance) but also business 

processes and information systems audits, based on 

risk assessment, in line with international standards 

and corporate governance codes. 

The Sonae Group promotes Internal Audit and Risk 

Management methodologies and seeks to follow 

best international practices. As far as human resources 

are concerned, Group companies sponsor a program 

of training and updating of skills that includes the 

international professional certifications of the IIA - 

Institute of Internal Auditors, the Certified Internal Auditor 

and Certification in Control Self Assessment, as well as 

other certifications such as the Certified Information 

Systems Auditor. 


The Audit and Risk Management mission 

To help companies reach their objectives via a systematic and structured approach to evaluate 

and improve the effectiveness of risk management and control of business processes and 

information systems. 

Risk Management milestones 

1984 - mds, insurance broker, was created with the objective 

of managing the Sonae Group’s insurance and risk policy 

throughout the world. 

1996/1997 - Sonae re-organises all risk insurance agreements 

in relation to group activities (nationally and internationally). 

From this moment, Sonae insurance policy has been based on a 

global strategic approach. 

Since 1997 - Several Internal workshops are held with each 

sub holding about safety risks and preventive measures. The 

implementation of risk management processes begins. 

1999 - Sonae Re, a captive reinsurance company, managed by 

mds, was set up with the objective of managing the Group’s 

insurable risks worldwide. This company is based in Luxemburg. 

This globalisation of Sonae’s Risks implied a higher level of 

understanding and disclosure of risk exposure and preventive 

measures, concerning insurable risks such as fire, explosion etc. 

1999 - Sonae reorganizes the Internal Audit function. In addition 

to routine financial and compliance auditing, it starts to look at 

audit risk in a broader, strategic manner. Sonae starts a one year 

project in which internal audit is reorganised. Over a period of 

one year, a major analysis of risk factors that could affect Sonae’s 

businesses was carried out, based on interviews, questionnaires 

and several workshops. The output of this project in 2000 was: 

. Identification and evaluation of Group business risks 

. Focus of Internal audit on risks associated with business 

processes and information systems 

. Set up of Audit and Risk Management functions in the holding 

company and each sub holding 

. Implementation of Risk Management and Information System 

Audit activities 

2000/2001 - Sonae felt it was important to develop methodologies 

concerning risk management. It began a project in Portugal to build 

them. The pilot project was implemented in Modelo Continente, 

more specifically in Sport Zone stores. The methodology was tested 

there, and then rolled out across the Group. 

“Risk management is carried out with the goal of adding value, through the 

management and control of uncertainties and threats that may impact the businesses 

of Group companies on an ongoing basis, with a view to taking advantage of business 

opportunities”. 

Belmiro de Azevedo, Managing Risk by Value Creation, Risk Management Forum, October 2006 



23

We would emphasise that the Audit and Risk Management 

department’s responsibilities are a consequence of the 

Values and Principles that underpin the business strategy 

of the Sonae Group. In practice, this involves the following 

day to day activities: 

. constant risk management and the search for new 

management practices that are able to detect and 

correct adverse situations promptly 

. a set of practices that allow a systematic evaluation to 

be made of the true performance of the businesses 

and the level of compliance with the values and 

principles of Sonae 

. a work environment that minimises professional risks 

and that promotes the health and safety of staff, 

suppliers and other third parties 

. a dialogue with national and international partners 

that is guided by the principles of honesty, integrity 

and transparency 

Sonae Risk Management Process 

Risk management is integrated into the Sonae planning 

process and is based on the international standard 

“Enterprise Risk Management - Integrated Framework”, 

developed by COSO (Committee of Sponsoring 

Organizations of the Treadway Commission). At Sonae, we 

look at different levels of risk - strategic and operational 

- and also at its different kinds: financial, operational, 

technological, political, environmental, social, and 

governance. During this process, we identify strategic 

risks and opportunities that might impact our business 

in the future and the likelihood of occurrence. Each subholding 

conducts an operational analysis and implements 

appropriate actions related to the key issues identified. 

Risk management is therefore an important part of our 

Governance model, in relation to both statutory and nonstatutory 

bodies. 

Enterprise Wide Risk Management Approach 

1 

Define and establish the 

framework and 

infrastructure of Risk 

Management 

1 

. Establish targets and objectives 

. Define the organisation 

. Define a common language 

. Develop risk management tools and processes 

. Make available facilitating resources (human, 

financial) 

2 

Identify and evaluate 

business risks 

2 

. Identify risks 

. Sources of risks (determine the “drivers” of the risks) 

. Measure and assign priority to risks 

. Establish the current risk map 

. Determine the owner of the risk 

5 

Monitor and report 

on Risk Management 

actions 

6 

Information 

for decision making 

3 

Evaluate Risk 

Management strategies 

3 

4 

. Determine risk tolerances and limits 

. Define the goal risk map 

. Determine the risk management strategy 

(develop options to manage threats or take 

advantage of opportunities: eliminate, reduce, 

transfer, accept) 

. Develop a risk management action plan 

. Integrate the Risk Management plan into the 

normal business planning cycle 

4 

Design and implement 


actions 

5 

. Monitor progress on executing the risk 

management plan. 

. Monitor changes in the risk profile 

. Report on progress to risk owner, management 

and the Board of Directors 


The table below summarises the kind of issues that can 

influence our business, either directly or indirectly. In this 

report, we will show examples of how each sub-holding 

is responding to these risks. Others will be assessed and 

managed as the likelihood of their occurrence, market 

demand and our strategic approach develops. 

Business Risk Model 

Financial Risks Political and Regulatory Risks Environmental Risks 1 

Social Risks 

Governance Risks 

External Risks 

. Interest rates 

. Liquidity 

. Financial market 

fluctuations 

Increasing EU legislation 

regarding: 

· Water pricing policies 

· Energy pricing policies 

· Insurance policies 

· Environmental insurance 

policies 

· Increasing limitations of 

access to raw materials 

· Environmental Taxes 

· New industry regulations 

. Climate change 

. Water 

. Energy 

. CO 2 

2 

. Waste 

. Land Use 

. Demographic change 

. Change in consumer 

needs 

. Community relations 

. Increasing importance 

of Intangible and 

traditionally non 

financial information 

for investors 

Business Process Risks 

Operational Risks 

· Customers satisfaction 

· Service quality 

· Brand image 

· Pricing 

· Supply chain 

· Food safety 

· Efficiency 

· Customer and visitor safety 

· Facility safety and security 

· Business interruption 

Human resources 

· Outsourcing 

· Retention 

· Authority limits 

· Leadership 

· Adaptability to change 

· Health and Safety 

Integrity Risks 

· Reputation 

· Fraud 

· Illegal behaviour 

Compliance Risks 

· Legislation and contracts 

· Internal Control policies and procedures 

· Safety, Health and Environment policies 

and procedures 

Information Technology Risks 

· Availability 

· Integrity 

· Confidentiality 

· Non-repudiation 

· Relevance 

Financial Risks 

· Liquidity 

· Credit 

· Exchange rates 

· Tax 

· Financial information 

· Planning and budget 

1 Environmental Issues are becoming financial assets/liabilities, such as Water, Energy, Environmental insurance. 

2 CO 2 

emissions: potential extension of Kyoto protocol to the transport sector. 



25


4. Commitments and Guidance 

to the sub-holdings 

Sonae SGPS as a holding company of a group of companies 

and manager of a diversified portfolio of businesses 

commits to continuously challenge all of its sub-holdings 

in relation to the points set out below: 

. To develop the concept of Risk Management in 

relation to sustainability (environmental and social 

aspects) and its application at an operational level. 

. To progressively implement the use of key indicators 

suggested by the Global Reporting Initiative. 

. To create a set of sustainability key performance 

indicators which are specific for each sub-holding, 

identifying objectives and commitments. 

. To recognise that the financial return on certain 

projects relating to eco-efficiency may be small when 

compared to other opportunities, but that in the long 

term these returns are compensated by achieving 

and being seen to achieve a complete integration 

of sustainability issues into the business of each 

company. 

. To continue training programmes and actions so 

that new management approaches and potential 

opportunities can be identified. 

. To develop specific training in the area of sustainability 

and the way in which it can be linked to the core 

business of each company. 

. To encourage the implementation of even more 

demanding safety policies in order to reduce work 

accidents. 

. To develop a culture of accident prevention through 

changes in individual behaviour. 

. To progressively implement systems that will permit 

the measurement of direct and indirect CO 2 

emissions 

from the activities of each business. 



27


5. Main sustainability milestones 

at the Sonae Group 

1985 

Definition of the Ten “Guiding Principles” for Sonae’s managers. 

1986 

Contacto Programme 

The Contacto Programme began, aimed at identifying 

high potential University students. 

1994 

The environment as a factor of competitive 

advantage 

The Chairman of Sonae challenges the businesses to 

become environmentally responsible, and develop this 

aspect as a competitive advantage. 

1995 

Launch of the “Projecto Horizonte” 

“Projecto Horizonte” was Sonae’s first Group-wide 

project, involving representatives from all businesses. The 

objective was to strengthen environmental management 

as an integral part of business management, as a factor of 

differentiation and as a source of competitive advantage. 

Membership of the WBCSD 

Sonae is invited to become a founder member of the 

World Business Council for Sustainable Development 

(WBCSD). By accepting this invitation, Sonae committed 

itself to active membership and participation in key 

projects of the Council. 

1996/1997 

Sustainable Forestry 

Sonae Indústria sponsors an independent study which 

presented some proposals for the Strategic Plan for the 

Sustainable Development of Forestry. 

Implementation of “Projecto Horizonte” and 

creation of the “Environmental Forum” 

As a result of the “Projecto Horizonte”, the sub-holdings 

began building their environmental management 

structures. A need was felt to set up discussion groups 

where environmental information, experiences and best 

practices could be shared among the sub-holdings. 

As a result, the “Forum Horizonte” (Wood Based Panels 

business) and “Environmental Forum” (Retail and 

Shopping Centres businesses only) were set up. 

1999 

Launch of the ECO 2 XXI corporate programme 

With the growth of Sonae’s portfolio to six sub-holdings 

in 1999, a corporate structure was needed that could 

promote synergies and integrated and harmonious 

environmental management development in all Sonae 

businesses. The Programme’s objective was to encourage 

the implementation of eco-efficiency opportunities 

across all Sonae businesses. It served as an effective driver 

for the launch of consistent environmental management 

actions, acting not only as a framework to solve existing 

problems, but also to avoid potential liabilities. The name 

of the Programme - Eco 2 XXI - itself demonstrates Sonae’s 

belief in reconciling economic growth with ecological 

protection, as a guarantee for future sustainable business 

development, this approach being a key strategic 

direction for the XXI century. 

1 st Sonae annual environmental conference 

The conference brought together around one hundred of 

Sonae’s top managers from the different business areas. It 

was an excellent opportunity to present and discuss the 

Eco 2 XXI Programme and to inform participants about the 

main environmental action plans in each business area, as 

well as to share information on international trends and 

experiences. 

Principles and Values 

Sonae Business Principles and Values are defined and 

include sustainable development issues, governance, 

respect for human rights and anti corruption practices. 

2000 

Sonae’s environmental policy and 

environmental management system 

The Sonae Board of Directors formally approved the 

Group’s Environmental Policy and Environmental 

Management System (EMS). The former makes clear 

Sonae’s commitment to reconcile socio-economic 

development with environmental protection, based on 

the principles of eco-efficiency. 

Environment Forum 

Sonae broadened the Environment Forum, to include 

for the first time Environmental Coordinators from all 

sub-holdings. It was a platform for sharing information, 

experiences and best practices across Group, and 

for challenging the sub-holdings to take action on 

environmental issues. 



29

Internal Audit reorganization and creation of Internal 

Audit and Risk Management Departments in the holding 

company and each sub-holding; set up of non-statutory 

bodies of Audit Commission and Risk Management 

Advisory Group. 

2001 

Sonae annual conference on eco-efficiency 

125 group managers were present at this conference. 

BCSD Portugal 

Sonae became a founder member of the Business Council 

for Sustainable Development Portugal, and was invited to 

take on its presidency for the first three years. 

1 st Sonae Environmental Report issued for 

the year 2000 

In line with the commitment made in its 

Environmental Policy, Sonae with this first 

Environmental Report began a regular process of 

public reporting on its plans and achievements 

in relation to environmental management and 

performance issues. 

2002 

Sonae annual conference on sustainable 

development 

175 managers from across the Group attended this annual 

conference. 

The Environmental Forum organised a series of 

Workshops on Sustainable Development 

Each sub-holding ran workshops to stimulate ideas that 

could lead to specific actions. 59 managers from different 

functional areas in various sub-holdings participated. 

2003 

2 nd Sonae environmental report issued for 

the year 2002 

Sonae continues to report its progress on eco-eficiency 

issues, by publishing a second environmental report . The 

report included environmental indicators from each subholding. 

2004 

Sonae signs up to the United Nations Global Compact. 

2005 

Signature of the World Safety Declaration 

Sonae SGPS signed the World Safety Declaration, a 

commitment to global workplace safety, at the DuPont 

Leaders Forum for Safety and Performance in Geneva in 

November 2005. 

1 st Corporate Responsibility Report from a 

sub-holding 

Sonae Sierra was the first company of the Group to 

publish a Corporate Responsibility report related to 

2004 activity. This sub-holding has produced an annual 

report every year since then in order to respond to the 

expectations of its principal stakeholders. 

2005/2006 

Sustainability Forum 

Sonae broadened the focus of the Environment Forum 

to embrace Sustainability with the same goal of sharing 

information, experiences and best practices. Currently, 

the objectives of this Forum are under review in order 

to provide a vehicle for driving forward the Group’s 

sustainability strategy and actions into the future. 

2006 

The conference “Sustainability - Perspectives and 

Challenges” took place in Lisbon with around 250 Sonae 

managers attending. The keynote speech was given by 

Bjorn Stigson, President of the WBCSD. 

2007 

Sonae publishes the first Group Sustainability Report. 

2000 to 2004 

Eco News 

A quarterly environmental newsletter – Eco News – was 

also published for distribution to all Group employees, 

available both in print and on the Internet, designed to 

increase environmental awareness and encourage best 

practices. 


Sustainability Report 06 Sonae SGPS, S.A. 

31


6. Examples of Sustainability Strategy in 

action in the sub-holdings 

The Sonae Group is made up of different businesses, 

subject to different exposures to the markets in which 

they operate, distinct levels of competition, and various 

levels of influence from their respective stakeholders, 

which are also specific to each business. The result is that 

the businesses are moving at different speeds in the way 

in which they are incorporating environmental and social 

issues into their management practice. 

The following pages describe some examples of best 

practice among our businesses. It is important to note 

that there exist a broad range of actions, each of which 

may be carried out by all sub-holdings, but which are 

not all reported upon in this document. Here, a selection 

of case studies that are most closely related to the main 

impacts of each business, are described. 

All sub-holdings, with the exception of Sonae Capital, will 

be issuing their own sustainability reports in 2007, in which 

readers can obtain more detailed information concerning 

objectives, improvements and the commitments made 

by each. 

This is the first report of the Sonae Group, and as such, we 

recognise that we still have a long way to go to incorporate 

benchmark international standards and to identify and 

collect relevant information for our stakeholders. This is a 

challenge which we face with confidence. 

6.1. 


The case studies below are a practical demonstration of 

the manner in which the risk management methodology 

described earlier has been applied in the Group, both on 

a Group wide basis and in individual sub-holdings. 

Sonae Group Risk Management transversal project - an example: 

Emergency and Contingency Plan for Pandemic Flu Risk 

. Launch of a Group wide project and specific projects in each sub-holding and main businesses 

of the Group, with the goal of preparing and testing emergency and contingency plans to 

respond to the threat of a flu pandemic. 

. On going actions to identify critical processes and people in each business, assess pandemic flu 

impacts and design action plans. 

. Contacts with government departments and other health authorities, to share information and 

knowledge about pandemic flu contingency plans and other collaboration. 

. Contract specialist consulting services of a major international health and medical services 

company to provide pandemic flu protocols and procedures and access to its web site. 

. Acquisition of a quantity of antiviral, to maintain a preventive stock against a possible shortage 

of supply in case of a pandemic flu outbreak. 



33


Managing Risks 

Concerning the risk management activity, Modelo 

Continente has developed a business risk evaluation 

process from which was defined a matrix of company 

risks ( BRM - Business Risk Model ). 

Two practical examples of managing and controlling 

risks in the company follow: 

Physical Risk Control Self Assessment 

In the Retail business, brand trust is fundamental: for 

four consecutive years Modelo Continente has been 

chosen as the most reliable brand in retail by Portuguese 

consumers. 

One of the most probable causes of damage to brand 

image in relation to customers is a physical accident (e.g. 

fire, structural collapse, flooding). Because of this, Modelo 

Continente implemented a Physical Risk Control Self 

Assessment project to reduce the probability and impact 

of physical accidents in stores. 

This project was carried out by the Risk Management 

Department of Modelo Continente which built an 

Intranet based application to support a Control Risk Self 

Assessment (CRSA) process, in order to assess the current 

level of physical risk exposure in stores. 

All the requirements were identified internally by the Risk 

Manager with support from the stores team. Based on 

a list of issues that resulted from previous risks analyses 

and international standards, a checklist was developed, 

organized into the following four areas: Emergency, Fire, 

Intrusion and Security Training. 

As a result of the project’s implementation, the following 

benefits resulted: 

. Full coverage by stores (of which there are more than 

400) of physical security risks, without the need to 

increase staff levels. 

. Assessment of the current level of physical risk 

exposure faced by the company. 

. Improvement in the risk management culture and 

awareness. 

. Development of action plans for each risk identified. 

. Ranking and prioritization of follow-up audits based 

on the higher risk stores identified. 

. Identification of areas that need to be improved in a 

particular store, a given region or all stores. 

. In the longer term, as knowledge increases, it will be 

possible to change the way that new stores are built 

in order to avoid structural physical risks. 

The project was “Highly Commended” in the category 

of Most Effective Technology at the 2006 European 

Risk Management Awards. 

Controlling the Quality and Safety of Food 

Products 

The quality and safety of products made available to 

customers is obviously a key issue for Modelo Continente, 

so that various measures have been implemented in the 

company in order to control them. 

As an example of what has been done in relation to quality 

and safety in the food product area, Modelo Continente 

developed and implemented a product Quality and 

Safety Assurance System, through which the technical 

quality teams from the food and perishable product areas 

take actions in order to guarantee that products are made 

available to customers in accordance with defined quality 

and safety specifications. 

These actions include among others, the preparation 

of technical product specifications, the control of 

documentation of origin, the quality control on delivery, 

and laboratory analyses of products on sale. 

The control of documentation of origin is an important 

issue, since it allows products to be traced and identified 

from production/pick up until delivery of the goods to 

the company. In this documentation, hygiene guarantees 

from the originator are also included, which are mandatory 

by Portuguese law for certain types of products. 

Also, laboratory tests are important to control the quality 

and safety of products made available to customers. 

Thus, Modelo Continente has been systematically 

increasing the number of these tests. In 2006, 25,141 

laboratory tests were carried out, of which 3,888 were 

done by third party entities. 

In order to support food Safety and Quality Control in 

warehouses and stores, specific training and manuals 

have been developed and distributed, which give clear 

and objective guidelines to teams to control product 

quality and safety. 

Modelo Continente also carries out regular audits to 

its sites and premises with the goal of systematically 

monitoring food safety risks, ensuring compliance with 

legislation and to the Company food safety manual. 

Modelo Continente own branded goods do not 

include Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) 

In accordance with its precautionary policy against 

possible environmental and food safety risks, Modelo 

Continente`s own branded goods policy exclude GMOs, 

whether in the product itself or in their composition. 

Compliance with this policy is assured through specific 

mandatory supplier contractual clauses. 



Sonae Sierra innovates in Health and Safety via 

the PERSONÆ project. 

The project involved an investment of more 

than 6 million euros in consulting and training 

services alone. 

For Sonae Sierra, safety is one of the key risk factors and 

a major area of concern at all levels and it is believed 

that a culture of anticipation can minimise the number 

of potential “accidents”. As a consequence of this, Sonae 

Sierra launched the PERSONÆ project which aims to foster 

a culture of anticipation in relation to safety, by integrating 

safety concerns into the mindsets of employees and other 

key stakeholders. 

The first phase of implementation took place between 

September 2004 and March 2006. In this phase, the focus 

was put on actions in safety awareness and education. In 

organisational terms, the start up also involved the set up of 

a committee at Board level and working groups. The main 

importance of the PERSONÆ project lies however in its 

innovative approach compared to traditional safety systems, 

particularly in relation to technical procedures and audits. 

In its first two years, PERSONÆ has involved more than 

11 thousand people among employees, tenants, and 

suppliers in Sonae Sierra. Currently, Sonae Sierra’s 

shopping centres and offices prepare documents, 

seminars and workshops, conduct awareness visits to all 

shops and premises, which also involve suppliers, and 

correct non-conformance situations observed. Some 

of these regular meetings with these stakeholders can 

be about apparently simple attitudes, such as accident 

prevention drills. The aim is to encourage tenants to make 

this project an everyday work tool. 

PERSONÆ is being successfully implemented in all of the 

company’s shopping centres and offices, in Europe and Brazil. 

The project won the Eco Award in 2006 in the “Corporate 

Social Responsibility - Internal Public” category from Amcham 

(American Chamber of Commerce), which was attended by 

the former United States Vice President Al Gore. 

Its progress is being carefully studied by other subholdings 

in the Group with a view to taking advantage of 

potential synergies, and adapting the management model 

to other Group businesses though the development of 

the corporate Safety and Health function. 

The third phase will start in September 2007, in which the 

scope will be broadened to also include the million daily 

visitors to centres in the dialogues that have been going 

on with employees, suppliers and tenants. Sonae Sierra 

aims to include all relevant stakeholders in this project.


Sonaecom’s Business Continuity Program 

Sonaecom has been implementing a Business Continuity 

Management Program. 

This Program has five main phases: (a) understanding 

the business; (b) establishing recovery strategies; (c) 

developing Contingency and Recovery Plans, coordinated 

by an integrated Crisis Management plan; (d) establishing 

a Business Continuity Culture; (e) testing, maintaining and 

auditing the plans built. 

Business Continuity Management Approach 

. Business Impact Analysis 

. Risk Assessment and Control 

. Establish BCM Focus 

. BCM Plans Exercising 

. Teams and Systems Testing 

. BCM Audit and Maintenance 

Business 

Understanding 

. BCM Strategies Development 

. Implementation Time and Cost Forecast 

(Capex and Opex) 

. Strategy Advantages / Disadvantages 

Testing 

and 

Maintenance 

BCM 

Programme 

Management 

Strategies 

Divulge and Implement program of: 

. Education 

. Awareness 

. Training 

Culture 

Recovery Plans 

. Recovery Plans 

. Crisis Management 

. Sourcing (intra-organization and/or outsourcing 

providers) 

. Public Relations and the Media 

The Sonaecom Program has a direct impact by providing a 

phased and integrated response to different types of risk, 

through the implementation of Emergency, Contingency and 

Recovery Plans, coordinated by a Crisis Management Plan. 

Two examples are the Information Systems Disaster 

Recovery Plans, including the implementation of an 

alternative data centre to support critical activities of 

the mobile business, and the inclusion of the business 

continuity requirements (redundancy) in the new 

telecommunications network architecture planning. 



Contacto (construction and engineering company 

in Sonae Capital) implements an integrated safety, 

environment and quality system 

The construction sector has a number of very specific 

features, distinguishing it from all other business sectors, 

and is one with significant environmental impacts and 

where a higher risk of work accidents exists. We believe 

and are showing however that it is possible to counter this 

situation by taking actions to alleviate these concerns by 

the real and effective involvement of everyone involved 

in construction works, building a culture of prevention, 

safety and above all of responsibility. To that end, Contacto 

has focused its actions on implementing proactive 

preventive procedures, giving information and training 

to all those involved in the production process. Training 

sessions are given, particularly in the environmental, 

safety and health areas, which involve not only company 

employees but also sub contractor staff. All procedures 

are formalised and in accordance with the requirements 

of the Quality, Environment and Safety System which has 

obtained international certification according to the NP 

EN ISO 9001, NP EN ISO14001 e OHSAS 18001 standards.

6.2. 

Eco-Efficiency 

Environmental awareness and the role of the Group holding company to encourage efforts to minimize consumption of 

natural resources while maintaining or increasing output, have always been explicit in the Sonae values and principles. 

The focus on eco-efficiency as good management and environmental practice has its origins in the group’s first business, the 

manufacture of wood based panels, where measures were implemented to reduce the consumption of wood, and to increase the 

use of wood waste as a raw material. 

This concern with natural resource consumption was extended to other business areas, and a group wide project was 

launched among all sub-holdings with the goal of increasing the level of integration of environmental management as 

a factor of differentiation into the overall management of each business, and of creating a competitive advantage. 

Each sub-holding began to build Environmental Management Systems (EMSs) and structures, while synergies and 

experience sharing were encouraged through the Environmental Forum created for this purpose. 

Many of the EMSs implemented in Group companies have won international certification, and systems continue to 

be developed to quantify savings arising from eco-efficiency projects. This is a challenging area, often requiring the 

recognition that returns on these investments will only be made in the longer term, but are those that can enable 

companies to identify new approaches to management and new opportunities. 

Extract from Sonae’s Environmental Policy 

“...The Sonae Group is determined to follow a path leading to Sustainable Development. It will do so by 

being pro-active in its work with the World Business Council for Sustainable Development, of which it is a full 

member, and by implementing increasingly eco-efficient management systems within its own portfolio of 

businesses....” 



Putting Eco-efficiency into practice at Modelo 

Continente 

Electricity Consumption, Transport of Goods and Waste 

Disposal are the main environmental impacts of Modelo 

Continente. This sub-holding has been implementing 

practices and taking measures in these specific areas to 

continuously increase the level of eco-efficiency from 

its activities. 

of management practices detailed in the “Energy 

Management Manual”, and by continuous monitoring of 

consumption. 

Energy 

Energy consumption on its premises, in particular 

electrical energy, which in 2006 totalled 271 GWh, is 

an issue to which Modelo Continente pays particular 

attention, promoting a rational and eco-efficient use of 

this resource. 

Around 60 energy audits have been carried out, which 

have led to the implementation of a wide range of 

measures to rationalise consumption, as well as the use 

of more efficient equipment, computerised systems for 

managing consumption, the use of natural gas in baking 

ovens, the use of skylights to access solar light, and the 

use of hot fluids generated by air conditioning systems for 

heating water, among others. 

Some of the specific measures implemented include: 

. replacing metallic iodide for fluorescent lamps 

(7% reduction); 

. changing conventional for electronic ballasts 


. control of the pressure of condensation of refrigeration 

gas in accordance with external temperatures 


. installation of vertical and horizontal frozen food 

storage cabinets with doors 

(3% and 2% reductions respectively). 

Transport 

The management of the truck fleet which delivers goods 

to stores is carried out by modern and sophisticated 

management software, which allows efficiency gains 

to be made with a positive impact both in terms of 

fuel consumption and of greenhouse gas emissions, in 

particular CO 2 

. 

Also, the type of vehicle used is controlled, using vehicles that 

are technologically and environmentally advanced, in order to 

minimize fuel consumption and emissions of pollutants to the 

atmosphere. All vehicles which entered service after 2003 are 

equipped with engines that comply with the Euro3 or Euro4 

standard, which define maximum levels of consumption 

and air pollution emissions. Although these standards are 

not mandatory by law, they are part of Modelo Continente’s 

policy for the entire logistics fleet, controlled directly by 

the company. 

Thus, despite growing demand for energy consumption, 

especially in the food sector, as a result of increases in the 

cold storage areas, and improvements in thermal comfort 

and store lighting, this has been offset by a number of 

reduction measures implemented, by the adoption 

Energy consumption 

(GWh per 1000 m 2 of sales area) 

Number of crates transported per km 

8 

6 

5.13 

4.76 

4 

2 

5.73 

0.56 

0.54 

0.55 

0 

2004 

2005 

2006 

0.52 

0.5 

0.52 

0.5 

CO 2 

Emissions per 1,000 crates transported 

CO 2 (Kg) 

200 

159 

149 

0.48 

150 

134 

0.46 

2004 

2005 

2006 

100 

2004 

2005 

2006 



39

Waste 

.Reduction 

Reuse of Transport Packaging - The use of reusable 

transport packaging is in specific circumstances, an 

effective way of encouraging a reduction in waste 

generation. Modelo Continente led the introduction 

of the “Single Crate” into the supply chain of fruits 

and vegetables in the retail sector in Portugal. The 

“Single Crate” has Environmental Advantages, namely 

in terms of optimising transport and reducing waste 

generation. It is also made of recyclable plastic. 

At the end of 2006, 181 fruit and vegetable suppliers were 

using this new packaging, equal to the transport of an 

average of 684 thousand crates each month along the 

supply chain, an increase of 8% over 2005. The reusable 

crates are also being used for the supply of meat and fish 

to stores. In 2006, approximately 95% of meat and 70% of 

fresh fish was being transported in these reusable crates. 

Reuse of Coathangers - the company has an ongoing 

programme of the collection of coathangers for 

reuse. As part of the programme, Modelo Continente 

collected 198 tons of coathangers in 2006. 

.Recovery 

In 2006, Modelo Continente generated 40,140 tons 

of waste, of which 69% were recovered. Recycling 

totalled 56% of waste generated. 

Destination of waste generated 

Recycling 56% 

Recovery 69% 

Incineration 11% 

TOTAL 

40,140 tons 

Composting 2% 

Landfill 31%


Electricity and water consumption, and waste disposal are 

three of the main environmental impacts of Sonae Sierra. 

This sub-holding has been taking measures to reduce 

consumption of electricity and to increase the level of 

recycled waste resulting from its activities. 

Electricity Consumption 

kWh / m 2 (mall + toilet area) 

Water Consumption 

litres / visit 

755 

748 

4.3 

4.2 

586 

594 

563 

4.2 

3.6 

not known 

2002 

2003 2004 

2005 

2006 

2002 

2003 

2004 

2005 

2006 

Note: For centres owned and co-owned, excluding tenants 

Note: For centres owned and co-owned, excluding tenants 

Sonae Sierra is a “Carbonfree - The Seal of Climate 

Responsibility“ company, which means that it has made 

a strong corporate commitment to address and reduce 

climate change impacts. 

For further details of the specific commitments involved 

in this initiative see http://www.carbonfree.pt/ . 

Recycling Rate 

(% by weight) 

0% 

19% 

19% 

21% 

26% 

2002 2003 

2004 2005 

Note: Total waste recycled as a proportion of waste produced 

31% 

2006 

Sonae Sierra develop its own Environmental 

Standards for Retail Developments (ESRD) tool 

ESRD is an internet-based specification tool, developed 

by Sonae Sierra to help Sonae Sierra Project Managers 

and design teams to develop shopping centres that 

comply with Sonae Sierra’ s environmental principles and 

procedures. The tool’s principal aim is the implementation 

of best environmental practice across all of Sierra’ s new 

development and major refurbishment activities. A total 

of 188 standards are included in ESRD covering energy, 

water (effluent and use), waste, transport, indoor and 

outdoor air quality, ecology, materials, etc. The standards 

are the same in all countries, in which Sonae Sierra 

develops Shopping Centres. 

The two main principles that support the standards 

included in ESRD are: 

Business Chain 

Suppliers Construction Waste Recycling Indicator 

(% of total waste sent for recycling or recovery) 

86 

90 

. Eco-efficiency, through improved design and architecture 

. Continuous improvement by regularly updating the 

ESRD, thus ensuring that Sonae Sierra keeps up with 

changes in best practices and technologies available. 

LoureShopping (2005) Serra Shopping (2005) 

RioSul (2006) 

62 

Campo Limpo Shopping Centre in Brazil wins 

ISO 14001 certification 

Initially, this Project aimed at implementing an 

environmental policy that would allow material costs 

to be reduced and optimised. However, thanks to the 

commitment of all those involved, including contracted 

labour, suppliers, and management, this project was also 

able to win ISO14001 certification for the construction 

phase of the project. 

Various measures were taken for its implementation: 

An Environmental Policy was written in which the Campo 



41

Limpo Shopping Centre recognises that its activity 

has impacts on the environment, and that it has the 

responsibility of being pro active in dealing with the 

resulting challenges. 

Processes involved in the construction of a shopping 

centre were analysed and also the best ways of improving 

them. From this analysis, procedures were proposed to 

put into practice measures to minimize, mitigate and 

prevent negative impacts that had been identified. 

The architectural team, which followed up on the store 

construction works, was given responsibility for the 

environmental training and guidance of store tenants. The 

engineer responsible for the manufacture and purchase 

of materials carried out an environmental evaluation of 

suppliers and service providers. And all those involved 

had been informed of the Sonae Group environmental 

policy and of the need to ensure that the services they 

provided were optimized. 

The greatest challenge found in the course of the 

project was to get across to staff the importance of the 

environment. Despite low educational levels of employees 

in the construction sector, each employee was aware of 

his/her contribution to the system. Security employees 

at the entrance to the construction site are the first to 

explain the company’s environmental policy to visitors by 

giving them a brochure. Stonemasons know the measures 

that they should take to avoid wastage of material and 

water on site. Heavy equipment operators are responsible 

for preventing soil and water contamination caused by 

spillages of fuel and lubricating oils. Chemical product 

operators are careful when handling these products 

having studied information given in safety leaflets. 

Objectives, goals and achievements resulting from the Environmental Policy of the Campo 

Limpo Shopping Centre in Brazil 

Objective Goal Results 

· Optimise use of natural resources 

· Minimise use of water 

· Minimise use of wood by 5% 

(to November 2006) 

. 525,575 litres saved (through reuse of 

water in foundation activities, use of 

water table and rain water to control dust 

in the atmosphere) 

. The wood reutilisation rate was 48.5 % 

· Minimise environmental impacts (pollution 

prevention) through appropriate waste 

management 

. Recycle 20% of waste generated . The recycling rate achieved in the period 

was 39.2 % 

· Minimise noise levels 

. Minimise atmospheric emissions (dust) 

. Restrict working hours next to the most 

vulnerable neighbours to minimise the 

inconvenience. 

. Control atmospheric dust levels in relevant 

activities 

. Reduction of two hours in noisy activities 

next to a residential building, work 

stopping at 20.00 instead of 22.00 hours. 

Start and finishing times are monitored 

daily. 

. All dust generating activities are 

controlled by humidifying the places 

involved. Each week, photographs are 

taken to record the procedure. 


Composting Organic Waste 

GaiaShopping 

Initial investment in equipment: not available 

Fixed Cost of Organic Treatment (equipment and transportation): 

370€/month 

2006 Average Organic Waste production / month: 192 €/month 

Expected Cost Savings/ Year: 2,137 € 

Arrábida Shopping 

Initial investment in equipment: 500 € 

Fixed Cost of Organic Treatment (equipment and transportation): 

370€/month 

2006 Average Organic Waste production / month: 714 €/month 


COMPOSTING ORGANIC WASTE 

Following the success of NorteShopping’s segregation of waste organic matter, Sonae Sierra decided to extend 

this project to other centres in Portugal, namely Arrábida Shopping, MaiaShopping and CascaiShopping in the 

last quarter of 2005. In January 2006, the facilities were installed at GaiaShopping. 

Each project starts with an analysis of the types of waste being produced, which lend themselves to composting. 

Then, special containers are distributed to tenants, who segregate organic waste before delivering it to the 

composting station. 

With this initiative, Sonae Sierra has recovered about 620 tonnes of organic matter in Portugal, equal to 6% of 

total waste produced in 2005, at the four centres where this separation process is in place. 

In 2006 we recovered 1247 tonnes of organic matter, representing 11% of total waste produced in 2006 in 8 centres. 

MaiaShopping 


Fixed cost of Organic Treatment (equipment and transportation): 

0€/month 

2006 Average Organic Waste production/ month: 210 €/month 


NorteShopping 


Fixed cost of Organic Treatment (equipment and transportation): 

366 €/month 

2006 Average Organic Waste production/month: 1,466 €/month 




43


Improvements in electrical energy consumption 

In 2006, 94% of electrical energy consumption was for 

the mobile telecommunications network infrastructure, 

Sonaecom is aware that it needs to tackle this area, but 

it is proving to be very difficult since the infrastructure 

is very disperse, and economically viable alternative 

technologies do not yet exist. 

Sonaecom installs and optimises Building 

Management Systems (BMS) 

Sonaecom installed BMS systems in Technical Buildings, 

Data-Centres, Offices and Call Centres. These systems 

make it possible to integrate and manage all equipment 

in a building, leading to energy savings and control 

over environmental conditions. All of these systems are 

subject to constant evaluation and adjustment in order to 

optimise the eco-efficiency of different systems, such as 

air conditioning, power supply and lighting. 

Changing lamps 

The substitution of halogen lamps by energy saving ones 

in Sonaecom’s retail shops led to a reduction of around 

20% in energy costs, while maintenance costs will also be 

reduced due to the longer life of these lamps. 

lighting system functions, leading to savings of around 

1,100 €/ and 16,500 kWh per month. As far as indirect 

costs are concerned, Sonaecom has also managed to 

reduce related maintenance and air conditioning costs of 

the building. 

Electrical and electronic equipment (EEE) 

Waste Management 

Optimus has different procedures to ensure the most 

appropriate final destination for the equipment that it 

sells, in accordance with the types of materials involved. 

Mobile phones that are handed in by customers at retail 

shops are sent to Fonebak PLC, an authorized waste and 

recycling operator that is ISO 14001 certified and is also 

EMAS registered as a specialist in the re-marketing of 

equipment. Sonaecom uses outdoors, internet and other 

communication media to inform consumers about the 

offer of 10 € for each mobile phone that is handed in at 

the time of purchase of a new one. Also, some electric 

and electronic wastes generated at Technical Assistance 

Centre facilities are being sent to an authorised Portuguese 

waste and recycling operator. 

Other measures also include the installation of presence 

sensors, reflective film on glass windows, ceiling insulation, 

the installation of skylights, shaded areas and energy 

saving lights, among others. 

Project Greenlight 

In 2004, Sonaecom joined GreenLight, a voluntary 

European programme (http://www.eu-greenlight. 

org/) where public and private companies and other 

organisations commit to improve the lighting of their 

premises, always in cases in which the savings in energy 

justify investments made. The installation of centralized 

technical management systems as well as improvements 

made in the Sonaecom headquarters as part of the 

Greenlight project enabled direct energy consumption to 

be reduced by 6% between 2005 and 2006. 

This project was undertaken with the goal of improving 

the lighting of the headquarters office building in 

Matosinhos which has a surface area of 4,760 m 2 , in which 

the following improvements were introduced: 

. Installation of pre-timed pressure switches which 

allow staff to light up areas where they wish to work 

during hours in which the building’s main lighting has 

been switched off. 

. Integration of the building’s lighting into the Building 

Management System. It allows the set up of time 

zones for lighting according to the hours of use of 

different areas and floors of the building. 

With the improvements implemented, a considerable 

reduction has been noted in the number of hours that the 

Each year, Sonaecom collects an increasing number of 

pieces of equipment in retail shops and sends them for 

recycling at Fonebak PLC. 

Equipment collected at retail shops 

Units 

80,000 

60,000 

40,000 

20,000 

0 

2004 

35,000 

2005 

50,000 

2006 

58,000 

The Electronic Invoice at Optimus 

The electronic invoice - digital extract - launched by 

Optimus in 2003, has allowed costs and related paper 

consumption to be reduced by around 50%. This service 

also includes an analysis programme tailored to the 

specific needs of each customer, allowing more efficient 

management of the budget that each customer sets for 

telecommunications. The goal is to broaden the use of 

this service to 90% of customers. 



Troiaresort* - demolition work best practices 

The urban and environmental improvement of the Troia 

peninsula involved the demolition of 40% of previously 

existing buildings, including two tower blocks. 

Several measures were taken in relation to waste 

management. The buildings to be demolished were 

emptied of reusable material and equipment and, if 

suitable, these were donated to charitable institutions. 

Then, the buildings were stripped of all hazardous and 

recyclable waste. 

Since 98.5% of the total waste was made up of concrete 

and ceramics, a recycling facility was installed on site 

at Troia. The recycled material is being used in the 

construction work of the Troiaresort as a base for roads 

and for landscaping. 

Destination of demolition waste 

(by weight %) 

1 0.5 

Storage on site for later reuse 

Sent off site for reuse / recycling 

Landfill 

98.5 

Waste Management at Contacto Construções 

Waste management at Contacto, a civil construction 

company operating in Portugal and Spain, gives priority 

to reuse and recycling. Some of the measures taken in this 

area are: 

. the reuse of construction and demolition waste coming 

from the demolition of buildings and viaducts carried 

out on a motorway widening project; 

. the placing of “eco-points” in offices to separate plastic, 

batteries, CDs, bulbs, toners and print cartridges; 

. the setting aside in each construction site of an area 

for separating waste including specific containers for 

each type; 

. the recycling of obsolete computer and electronic 

equipment (specifically computers, mobile phones 

and related accessories); 

. the waterproofing and sealing of flooring in warehouses 

containing dangerous waste on construction sites in 

order to avoid soil contamination due to possible spillage; 

. awareness and training actions to encourage the 

correct separation of waste. 

*Troiaresort - a tourism complex, comprising hotels, apartments, 

villas, marina, casino, golf course and other leisure facilities under 

development by Sonae, located between the Sado Estuary Nature 

Reserve and the Serra da Arrábida Nature Park.

6.3. 

Business Chain 

The Sonae Group has always sought to develop its businesses as an integral part of the communities in which it operates, 

so that it can act as a stimulus towards creating wealth and improving living conditions throughout the value chain. 

Sonae has given increasing importance to the way it relates to its suppliers and the kind of behaviour it expects from 

them. We view all our suppliers as business partners, and as such, encourage them to develop their activities in a more 

sustainable manner and implement management procedures which on a practical day to day basis comply with our 

environmental and social standards. The examples that follow demonstrate this approach. By signing up to the Global 

Compact, we have strengthened our commitment and recognise that, in view of our significant economic impact, we 

can contribute positively towards our suppliers also gradually adopting these best practices. 


Modelo Continente supports its suppliers 

In line with Group policy described above, Modelo 

Continente believes and takes a pro-active stance in 

building mutually advantageous solutions, particularly 

in the areas of logistical architecture, developing new 

products and concepts, as well as sharing information, 

thus enabling the company to continually improve its 

value offer to customers. 

Modelo Continente introduced into Portugal centralised 

logistics and implemented best practices of ECR (Efficient 

Consumer Response), which include the sharing of 

information and joint management of product categories 

with suppliers. 

Supporting the sustained development of its suppliers can 

take various forms. One important example has been its role 

in the setup and development of the “Clube de Produtores” 

. “Clube de Produtores” 

Modelo Continente set up the “Clube de Produtores” 

(Producers’ Club) in 1998, as a support structure to 

Portuguese livestock and agricultural production, which 

aims both to guarantee a steady supply of agricultural 

goods to hyper and supermarkets, and also to promote 

national production. The strategic objectives of the 

“Clube de Produtores” are therefore to promote national 

agricultural production, cultivated in accordance with 

the standards of quality and safety defined by Modelo 

Continente. For the producers, it offers a consistent and 

structured assistance to its members, while guaranteeing 

a means of ensuring the sale of their production. Modelo 

Continente invests in the training of the members of 

the Club in various areas of livestock and agricultural 

production, and also provides information concerning 

market trends and consumer demands, so that the sector 

gains competitiveness against a background of global 

competition. 



The value of purchases by Modelo Continente in 2006 from 

“Clube de Produtores” members was 87.5 million euro. 

Activities of the Club: 

. Technical support 

. Participation in international trade fairs 

. Protocols with the Institute of Agronomy, the Faculty 

of Veterinary Medicine, the National Zoo-technical 

Station among others 

. Training actions 

. Preparation of Programme Contracts in the fruit and 

vegetables area 

. International technical visits 

Promoting more environmentally friendly 

products 

.“Protecção Integrada” (Integrated Protection) 

With this initiative, Modelo Continente promotes the use 

of natural organisms to combat crop pests, replacing 

chemical pesticides, and the use of environmentally 

friendly agricultural techniques. This is achieved by 

making producers aware of these techniques, and by 

several communication campaigns to promote these 

products among our customers. Currently, all fruit and 

vegetables bought from “Clube de Produtores” members 

are produced under “Protecção Integrada”. 

Sonae Sierra’s engagement with their suppliers 

By using the Environmental Standards for Retail 

Developments (ESRD), Sonae Sierra has a tool which 

means that shopping centre design teams must integrate 

environmental issues starting from the design phase of 

the project. In the construction phase, the companies 

involved are also required to use Sierra’s Environmental 

Management System (EMS) manual for sites under 

development by Sonae Sierra. All steps possible are 

taken to obtain international ISO 14001 certification for 

all construction sites. 

To help suppliers to meet the requirements of Sonae 

Sierra’s EMS, we provide the following support: 

. Guidance and assistance to complete the necessary 

documentation and to help them prepare for audits, 

as well as undertaking internal compliance audits 

. Environmental training programmes for designers 

and contractors. 

.Organic products 

Organic products have arisen as a more environmentally 

friendly and sustainable method of agriculture, and at the 

same time safeguard intrinsic product qualities. However, 

their price is recognised as being the main obstacle 

inhibiting consumers. Modelo Continente is trying to 

reverse this trend by promoting the consumption of 

these products and encouraging the practice of this type 

of agriculture through the “Clube de Produtores”. 

Sonae Sierra carries out training sessions 

with their tenants and service providers on 

Environmental issues 

In 2006, Sonae Sierra carried out 100 environmental 

awareness and training sessions for tenants and service 

providers, with the goal of providing basic knowledge 

concerning the Sonae Sierra Environmental Management 

System to third party company employees. Every year, the 

proposed contents of the training are defined for each of 

the Centres, bearing in mind the level of implementation 

reached of the Environmental Management System and 

the Environmental Certification Process. The contents 

defined can include one or more of the following items: 

. Environmental awareness meeting; 

. ISO 14001 and Environmental Certification 

. Thematic visits; 

. Periodic meetings; 

. Workshops. 



47


Sonaecom includes environmental clauses in 

contracts with suppliers 

In order to manage risks throughout its value chain, 

Sonaecom includes clauses of an environmental nature 

in supplier contracts to ensure that environmental 

legislation and environmental factors, integrated into its 

environmental management system, are complied with by 

all of its suppliers. These clauses also state that Sonaecom 

can carry out technical audits on the supplier’s premises 

(of which 8 were conducted in 2006) to verify compliance 

with its obligations and the guidelines of Sonaecom, or to 

inspect any systems and equipment that have implications 

for the environmental management of Sonaecom. 

In order to ensure compliance with environment laws 

and regulations, all Work Orders (requests for work issued 

to Sonaecom’s suppliers) include specific information 

concerning the environmental issues that are connected 

to that type of work (e.g. air conditioning system gases, 

lamps, oils, and other types of waste). 

Innovation in Business Processes 

Supplier management solutions, which include BizFact 

and BizSuppliers, allow companies to implement simply 

and cost effectively a process that makes financial 

information available automatically to all Sonaecom 

internal users and suppliers. The Suppliers’ Portal was 

set up not only to allow suppliers to access their online 

current accounts but also to reduce the need for 

telephone contacts, and to eliminate the need to send 

payment confirmation orders to suppliers. In addition 

to increasing supplier satisfaction, there has been a 

significant reduction in postal and stationery costs, and 

employee time savings. 

They can access the status of invoices being processed 

in real time. The value of this project goes well beyond a 

simple reduction in paper consumption, since it has led to 

a fall of between 30 and 40% of costs associated with this 

business process and an increase in productivity. 

Sonaecom`s Sales Agents 

Sonaecom’s sales agent network is a critical business 

partner. The goal of having the best sales force in 

the telecommunications sector led the company to 

concentrate on and actively participate in three important 

stages of sales agents’ careers: recruitment, training and 

incentives. 

Optimus Negócios, in the mobile phone business 

segment, has strongly invested in redesigning agents’ 

recruitment plans since the beginning of 2006. Today, 

two thirds of the recruitment needs for agents are met 

directly by Optimus, which supervises the process. 

“Escola de Negócios Pontos Fortes” was launched in July 

2006, and is focused on developing the skills, increasing 

the career life-cycle and tightening the relationship of 

agents with Optimus. The target of this school is not only 

sales people, but also administrative assistants and sales 

team coordinators. In only 6 months, in 2006, 368 people 

attended 69 courses. “Pontos Fortes” is also the name of 

the incentives programme, in which agents earn points for 

each sale made. These points can be traded in for prizes. 

Points can also be earned by attending the Escola de 

Negócios training courses. The objectives of this program 

are to increase motivation and agents’ career life-cycles. 

The average life-cycle of agents involved in this program 

is twice that of other agent organisations. 

“Escola de Vendas Optimus” is another example, focused 

on the residential business, and taking action in Selection 

& Recruitment programmes, Training, Motivation and 

Performance Evaluation of the sales teams of our agents. 

Its mission is to create selling and coaching skills to build a 

strong commercial culture. In 2006, more than 60 agents 

were recruited directly by Optimus and more than 60 

training sessions were organised. 

“Academia Novis” is another project aimed at reducing 

the turnover of sales agents and improving selling and 

leadership skills. With actions focused on Recruitment 

and Selection, the challenge is to continuously improve 

results through focusing on the quality of the service 

provided through specialised, continuous professional 

training of our partners, thus contributing directly to their 

own business sustainability. 



Troiaresort - integrating the environment into 

the value chain 

Environmental management is part of the entire value 

chain at Troiaresort. In construction work, in addition 

to compliance with legal requirements, sub contractors 

must ensure that Environmental Follow Up plans are 

implemented, which involves among other factors, 

the identification of environmental aspects relating to 

their activity, promoting measures that aim to minimise 

the effect of any negative impacts, give environmental 

training to construction workers, and measure and 

monitor environmental performance. 

Checking up on the implementation of Environmental 

Follow-Up Plans by sub contractors is assured by 

operational control visits and internal and external audits, 

undertaken as part of the Troiaresort Environmental 

Management System (EMS), which is certified according 

to the international standard ISO 14001. The scope of the 

EMS, a pioneer in this type of project, covers the design, 

construction and operation of the resort. 



49

6.4. 

Human Capital 

Human capital has been a fundamental factor in the 

growth of the Sonae Group. The Group’s values and 

principles make a number of commitments towards 

its employees by stating that it is responsible for 

implementing a human resources policy which is 

free from any kind of discrimination, for high levels of 

satisfaction among employees, providing opportunities 

for career development, training and education, and for 

providing a safe work environment for its own and third 

party employees. 

The goal of these commitments is to give the necessary 

tools to staff to actively contribute towards the existence of 

a culture of permanent innovation and entrepreneurship. 

In order to encourage staff to take an active part in the 

planning of their personal and career goals and to align 

them with corporate objectives, a procedure called “Career 

Performance and Development Evaluation” is in place across 

the Group. This procedure allows the employee’s personal 

aspirations to be aligned with the goals of the company, and 

increases the motivation and productivity of employees. An 

induction and integration programme is given to all new 

employees in most companies, the goal being to integrate 

new staff into the company’s culture, thus ensuring that the 

company’s code and principles are maintained 

This vision led to the belief that the challenges and key 

tasks for this most important asset of companies are to: 

. find the right people for the right job 

. put confidence in them 

. empower them 

. make them accountable and responsible. 

A training policy is in place in the Group for all employees 

at all levels. Training covers the technical, behavioural and 

language areas. In the technical area, there has been a 

significant increase in training relating to environmental, 

health and safety issues. Sonae has also supported some 

group managers to follow external post graduate and 

doctorate studies 

The main guidelines of the Human Resources Policy across all sub holdings are: 

. Equal opportunities for all employees; 

. Attracting the right people for the right jobs; 

. Ensuring the development of skills and career progression; 

. Guaranteeing efficient processes for performance management; 

. Ethical behaviour in relation to staff, suppliers, the public in general and other entities 

with whom we interact; 

. Encouragement of behaviour based on ethical principles: 

integrity, legal compliance, sustainability. 


Management of our human resources is based on: 

. The development of global training programmes to create skills in a variety of areas; 

. A global Policy of Performance Management, based on performance evaluation criteria; 

. Qualification of employees in accordance with their needs and those of the businesses. 



51

“Learning is very important for people. At Sonae they have to learn and to be biased 

towards learning. “ 

“Attracting good people might be the most important asset of Sonae.” 

“At Sonae there is no prototype. We don’t believe in ‘pensé unique’, which has been very 

much discussed in France and in Europe. We don’t believe in it. I do believe that we are 

different people ... Take advantage of diversity. Take advantage of knowing more. 

“ .. do everything to get well educated, train yourself and prepare yourself to be always in 

the poll position for any new job or any new company. We don’t like to be in second place 

... we want to be winners, and we have to take lots of poll positions.” 

Belmiro de Azevedo, “Some Steps into the Future”. Sonae Indústria International Meeting 

“Just as people need oxygen and proteins to survive, companies need a continuous 

renewal of ideas and knowledge that are in the minds of their employees. Companies 

have the duty to keep their knowledge updated and to pass it on to future generations. 

But knowledge on its own is not enough. It is absolutely key to “KNOW HOW TO DO” but 

it is also necessary to move on “TO DO”, permanently innovating in an environment of 

sustainable and sustained growth” 

Belmiro de Azevedo, Values and Principles, 40th anniversary of Sonae, 1999

The safety of all our employees as well as the general 

public who use our premises is also an integral part of our 

risk analysis and internal procedures. In addition to various 

projects carried out by different sub-holdings, Sonae 

SGPS signed the World Safety Declaration in November 

2005, which: 

. is a visible commitment by industry to improve safety 

in the workplace 

. establishes the right of everyone to a safe workplace 

. affirms that industry will make real changes to reduce 

accidents and injuries 

. promotes collaboration between companies 

. pledges to report challenges, progress and successes 

within 3 years 

. is a set of good management principles 

Signatory companies are encouraged to cooperate in the 

search for better safety solutions and report the results 

of their efforts over the following three years at the XVIII 

World Health and Safety Congress which will take place 

in 2008. 

Sonae takes on this public commitment in relation to all 

of its stakeholders. 

2005 World Safety Declaration 

A Commitment to Global Workplace Safety 

We: 

Acknowledging that Safety is a fundamental component of quality of human life, a value to be upheld by individuals 

and organizations, 

Concerned that any lack of safety in the workplace and in the home carries with it a personal and social cost to 

individuals, families, organizations, communities and ultimately nations and their security and standard of living, 

Determined to address this vulnerability at the individual level and within our larger organizations and communities, 

Affirming our ability to affect real-world change to achieve an attainable goal of increased safety and injury reduction, 

Have agreed at the DuPont Leaders Forum On Safety and Performance held on November 17th, 2005 in 

Geneva, Switzerland: 

01. “Personal safety” as a human value transcends differences of geography, political affiliation, citizenship, ethnicity, 

religious affiliation, occupation, age and gender. Personal safety is a universal construct that can be supported in 

unique organizational and interpersonal ways. 

02. Individuals and organizations have the right and a moral obligation to make a commitment to the improvement 

of safety conditions in their lives, in their communities and in their organizations. They can improve the quality 

of their own lives, and the lives of those who participate in larger social contexts (occupational, local, regional, 

national, geographic) with a commitment to improve safety. 

03. The enhancement of safety in the workplace and in the home is an achievable objective that can be defined, 

evaluated and measured, despite differences of environment and setting. 

04. The global nature of workplace and home safety calls for the broadest possible cooperation by all of industry. 

05. The Organizations signing this Declaration, through its appropriate representative, today commit to reporting their 

challenges, progress and successes at the XVIIIth World Congress on Safety and Health at Work in 2008. 

IN WITNESS WHEREOF the undersigned, being duly authorized to that effect, have signed this Commitment. 

DONE at Geneva, Switzerland this seventeenth day of November, two thousand and five. 

Signed by Belmiro de Azevedo, Chairman of the Sonae Group 



53


With more than 25,000 employees at the end of 2006, 

Modelo Continente is aware of the importance of its 

Human Capital for the good performance of the company, 

as well as its contribution towards the sustained creation 

of employment locally, regionally and nationally. 

The company places great value on its employees, 

following policies of non discrimination, those that 

encourage career development based on demonstrated 

merit, while giving them permanent access to training 

programmes and providing a secure, safe and motivating 

workplace which encourages the performance level 

needed for the duties of all staff. 

In 2006, a total of 1,050,955 training hours were given. 

The good social climate existing in the company, which is 

confirmed by the results of surveys carried out regularly among 

all employees, is a reflection of the good practices undertaken 

by Modelo Continente in the area of labour relations. 

Environmental and Sustainable Development 

Training 

The environmental and sustainable development training 

programme at Modelo Continente is integrated into: 

. The Company’s Management Course and into the 

Trainee Management Programme, which involves all 

store supervisors. 

. Environmental training given to supervisory teams at 

the time of opening of new food stores. 

. Environmental training given as part of certification 

processes of stores and warehouses. 

In 2006, environmental and sustainable development 

training involved 1,309 employees (3,650 hours). 

Hygiene, Health and Safety at Work 

Modelo Continente, in accordance with the Group’s H&S 

management policy, has a constant concern for the work 

and health conditions of its employees, with several 

ongoing projects involving preventive actions. Through 

its Medical Centres and Hygiene and Safety service, the 

company has progressively increased its involvement 

in relation to Prevention of Work Accidents and Health 

matters. During 2006: 

. 637 audits were carried out. 

. 160 emergency drills were carried out, the goal 

being to put emergency plans to the test, as well as 

emergency support teams. 

. 80,000 hours of training were given at work stations. 


Ergonomic standards during 2007 

During 2005, Sonae Sierra launched a new project aimed 

at developing and gradually implementing best practice 

ergonomic standards across all its relevant activities. 

The need arose in recognition of the wide ranging 

environments in which staff work - ranging from Head 

Office to centre management office staff and security 

control room employees. Overseen by a cross-functional 

Working Group made up of both staff and external 

experts, the standards will include the following issues: 

. Lighting levels and controls 

. Noise levels 

. Space requirements 

. Furniture (desks and chairs) 

. Furnishings (carpets and paint) 

. IT equipment and accessories 

In 2006, 427 jobs were analysed in Portugal, and this work 

will be extended to Spain in 2007. These reviews involve 

the study of design, construction, and also the specific 

tasks of the employee, together with a personal interview 

to verify existing needs and the gaps which exist in relation 

to defined standards. On the basis of the findings, Sonae 

Sierra will implement a long term action plan to address 

issues of non-compliance. At the same time, Sierra’s aim is 

to embed the ergonomic standards into standard safety 

and health procedures to be complied with at all sites and 

offices in all countries where the company operates. 

Sonae Sierra uses Chronos - a learning tool 

from the WBCSD - to give training to around 

700 employees on sustainability 

At the end of 2006, Sonae Sierra began a programme 

of training in Chronos, a tool developed by the WBCSD, 

aimed at transmitting in a simple, interactive and realistic 

way, the essential issues that sustainable development 

involves, giving particular attention to the role of the 

private sector in the entire process. The Chronos training 

programme was adapted to the specific requirements of 

Sonae Sierra and delivered to all its staff in all countries of 

operation via CD-ROMs. 

In 2006, during a series of information sessions led by 

Sierra employees, the contents of the CD ROMs were 

discussed interactively with a total of 528 employees 

(285 employees in Portugal, 82 in Spain, 29 in Italy, 24 in 

Germany, 22 in Greece, 4 in Holland and 82 in Brazil). 

In Food retail stores, a coordinator for Hygiene and Work 

Safety was appointed. In 2006, a coordinator was also 

appointed for the non food retail area. 

In warehouses, a programme of gym at work has been 

implemented, the goal being to improve the body 

posture of operators. 



Training as a strategy 

The mission of the Sonaecom Learning Centre (SCLC) is to 

contribute towards creating an environment that develops 

career potential, as well as developing and consolidating 

the skills of Sonaecom Managers, which are essential for 

business development. 

SCLC aims to include all employees, so that various 

programmes exist aimed at different stages of career 

development. Learning courses cover people, strategic 

and project management, as well as other critical areas 

for business development, such as marketing, negotiation 

and interpersonal skills. Partnerships established with 

leading Portuguese universities guarantee not only that 

the subjects covered are up-to-date, but also that greater 

credibility is given to the training provided. Partnerships 

are in place with the following Universities: EGP - Escola 

de Gestão do Porto (Porto School of Management), UCP 

- Faculdade de Ciências Económicas e Empresariais da 

Universidade Católica Portuguesa de Lisboa (School of 

Business Studies at the Portuguese Catholic University in 

Lisbon) and AESE - Escola de Direcção e Negócios (School 

of Management and Business). 

Since its launch in January 2005, the SCLC has been 

enthusiastically received by employees, who have 

repeatedly confirmed the interest of contents, as well 

as the importance of training for career development. 

Up to the end of 2006, 19 different training courses had 

been given, involving 450 employees and 25,600 training 

hours. 

Sonaecom’s Code of Conduct 

Through its Code of Conduct, Sonaecom promotes 

and encourages behavioural rules and principles to 

be observed by members of statutory entities and all 

employees, thus contributing towards ensuring ethical 

behaviour throughout the organisation. As part of 

this Code, Sonaecom has set up an Ethics Committee, 

whose responsibilities include ensuring that any doubts 

by stakeholders are clarified, and reporting and dealing 

with situations that involve any violation of the Code. The 

Code covers issues ranging from integrity, transparency, 

respect, social responsibility, environmental commitment, 

health and safety, confidentiality and use of privileged 

information, to the management of conflicts of interest, 

and communicating irregularities in relationships with 

Customers, Suppliers, Competition, Public Authorities, 

Shareholders, Market, the Community, the Environment, 

and Staff. 

dissemination of information, and through them, 

influencing behaviour and attitudes, engaging employees 

in company strategy and goals. 

Building awareness of Corporate Responsibility among 

employees has been one of the main challenges over the 

last few years. To achieve this, Sonaecom has implemented 

several internal initiatives, such as Internal campaigns, 

“Give a hand to the environment“ (water and energy 

consumption reduction, paper recycling campaign, waste 

differentiation campaign), “Ideas contest “ (to encourage 

discussion and implementation of eco-efficiency ideas 

among all employees) and “Gil Day” (to promote the 

collection and reuse of toners and ink cartridges). In 

August 2006, an issue of the Sonaecom internal magazine 

- BOOM - was dedicated to Corporate Responsibility and 

several other articles concerning Corporate Responsibility 

appeared regularly to inform and create awareness among 

employees. Sonaecom has an internal e-letter called Ecoreport 

to increase knowledge concerning the Sonaecom 

Environmental Management System. We are also actively 

involved in external initiatives such as campaigns to 

collect clothes, working with the Red Cross, and blood 

and bone marrow donations, etc. 

Corporate Responsibility Awareness Campaigns 

Aware of the importance of Internal Communication 

to disseminate the corporate culture throughout the 

organization, Sonaecom is using various communication 

channels and tools aimed at providing effective 



55

6.5. 

Stakeholder Dialogue 

The Sonae Group has always taken into account the global and regional context in which its businesses operate, so that 

its management can respond to the evolving and changing needs of its stakeholders. 

Over the last few centuries, western society has grown more educated, while we have witnessed the transformation 

of a land, work and capital based society into one which develops and innovates, based on knowledge and capital. In 

the same period, and as part of this trend, Non Profit Making Organisations have come to play an important and active 

role in civil society, in particular in private sector activities in relation to human and social rights, and the protection of 

natural resources. 

This movement was at the origin of a new paradigm for society, in which business must deliver to society not only 

financial returns, but considerably more, in order to contribute towards social cohesion, environmental protection and 

global sustainability. 

It is in this context of understanding the expectations of our various stakeholders, identifying the factors that are 

relevant for them and thus identifying new approaches and new business opportunities, that Group companies have 

built relationships with their principal stakeholders. The following are examples of how methodologies have been 

developed and put into practice to achieve this. 


Modelo Continente cares for, listens to and 

communicates with thousands of consumers 

and suppliers 

Modelo Continente, is in contact with thousands of 

consumers every day in its stores and with hundreds of 

suppliers, and has to take on extra responsibility for the 

way in which it interacts with the communities in which 

it operates. Modelo Continente has thus given special 

attention to its relationships with customers and suppliers, 

and in its contacts with the community through various 

forms of support and good practice, as demonstrated by 

the following summary. 


Stakeholders 

Customers 

2.4 million/week 

3,090 million € / year 2006 

Employees 

25,255 (end 2006) 

337 million € / year 2006 

Suppliers 

3,500 (year average) 

2,720 million € / year 2006 

Community 

Community investments 5.9 million € / year 2006 

Dialogue 

Interacting every day with thousands of customers, a process which in itself provides a constant 

and useful dialogue, Modelo Continente uses various means and methodologies for consulting 

its customers and the communities close to its stores, the goal being to systematically improve 

the services provided and their value proposal. 

100,000 customers are listened each year. 

The company also has a structured procedure for managing suggestions and complaints, 

through which it interacts directly with the customer, allowing the service provided and value 

proposal to be adjusted. 

Periodically, Company Social Climate surveys are carried out, covering all employees, allowing 

opinions concerning the company, their work, and the work atmosphere. The last survey 

carried out showed that more than 70% of staff felt secure in the company, and that more than 

78% intended to continue working at Modelo Continente. 

An internal magazine called “Correio da Distribuição” is periodically issued with varied and 

relevant internal and external information. 

Availability of an Employee Portal on the Internet “Portal do Colaborador”, where all 

employees can access a variety of information according to their interests such as career 

opportunities, training, organisational and labour/legal information, among others. 

Day to day relationships with suppliers including relevant information sharing support the 

growth of the business. The Company set up the Suppliers Portal on the Internet, enabling 

information sharing and improvement in the interface between Modelo Continente and 

Suppliers. 

There is a constant focus on developing partnerships to implement new projects/products, 

which can bring improvements concerning the expectations/needs of consumers and the 

general public. 

Development and implementation of a wide number of initiatives actively involving the 

community. 

- of a social nature (involving local communities: in actions aiming at supporting institutions 

giving health care and/or support to underprivileged groups; and in actions to promote 

cultural and sporting events); 

- of an environmental nature (promoting awareness and improvement in the attitude/actions 

of the community concerning environmental and sustainable development issues). 

Cooperation with municipalities and other local or regional government entities. 

Periodic and timely information about relevant facts concerning the company, ensuring equal 

treatment to all investor and financial stakeholders. 

Investors 

Dividends 55 million € (paid 2006) 

Availability of a website, publication of the company’s annual report and accounts, periodic 

earnings announcements, and relevant Corporate Presentations. 

Investor Support Office, which is a department with the technical resources required to 

respond to specific requests from investors, the University community, and national and 

international retail sector analysts. 



57


Sonae Sierra has been working on a structured 

stakeholder dialogue based on international 

best practice recommendations, such as the 

voluntary AA1000 standard, in order to identify 

and engage with its stakeholders 

Sonae Sierra questioned their internal and external 

stakeholders about its Environmental and Social Risks 

and Opportunities 

Important Stakeholder Groups Methods and outcomes of engagement in 2006 

Investors and Financial Analysts 

Regular meetings, presentations, and published quarterly financial reports to communicate 

Sierra’s financial performance and risk management practices. 

Employees 

Corporate-wide and country specific communications, including printed employee magazine 

(Horizons) and intranet news. Performance evaluation plans and access to HR support. 

Staff have been individually consulted on specific issues (e.g. Safety & Health), and several 

schemes were introduced to stimulate ideas and reward innovative suggestions for new ways 

of working. 

Tenants 

Specific intranet site Sierracentres,network. Meetings and training sessions, with a strong focus in 

2006 on Safety & Health and Environmental management. 

Suppliers 

In 2006, a survey was carried out aimed at getting feedback from suppliers about Sierra’s CR 

practices and to evaluate their own CR policies. Questionnaires were sent to a number of Sonae 

Sierra’s largest Portuguese, Spanish and Italian suppliers. 

Visitors 

Visitor surveys are conducted in all our owned and co-owned centres. Visitor surveys undertaken 

at three of our largest centres in Portugal found that 69% of visitors considered our centres to be 

concerned about environmental protection. 

Government Authorities 

Engagement with all municipalities, local and regional bodies, as part of the planning and 

development process. Particularly close relationships with specific entities such as the police 

and emergency services. 

Local Communities 

Developed qualitative studies to assess the impact of the construction phase of centres on 

local communities and identify potential improvements. Geotracking surveys are undertaken 

in managed centres to analyse the impact of the shopping centre on residents and consumer 

demand patterns in the local area. 

Media 

In 2006, Sonae Sierra received a total of 1,309 cases of CR-related press coverage. Of these, 

84% were positive, and 16% were negative and related mainly to social issues (e.g. in Portugal, 

complaints from tenants employees about their employment conditions). In regard to 

environmental issues, a total of 142 cases of positive press coverage were received, compared 

to 33 negative cases concerning this aspect of Sierra’s performance. 


Concern about energy is today the biggest environmental 

issue. All environmental factors are expected to become 

more important over time, according to Tenants. 

Main results of the research carried out in 2006 concerning the greatest risks and opportunities for Sonae Sierra 

Stakeholder Issue Greatest Risks & Opportunities 

Tenants and External Stakeholders 

Quantitative research with 45 tenants in 6 countries 

Qualitative phone interviews with 39 external stakeholders 

Employees 

Economic 

Social 

Environmental 

Economic 

Business Strategy and planning 

Business Ethics 

Financial Impact on key stakeholders 

Local Economic Benefits 

Visitor Satisfaction 

Tenant Satisfaction 

Community Care 

Safety and Health 

Land Use 

Energy Consumption 

Transport 

Waste Production 

Emissions to air, land and water 

Business Strategy and planning 

Business Ethics 

Financial Impact on key stakeholders 

Corporate Governance and Risk Management 

Web-based research with 545 employees, across all 6 countries 

where Sonae Sierra operates (Portugal, Spain, Italy, Germany, 

Greece and Brazil) 

Social 

Environmental 

Visitor Satisfaction 

Tenant Satisfaction 

Community Care 

Employee Relations 

Energy Consumption 

Emissions to air, land and water 

Waste Production 

Land Use 



59


Stakeholder and issue analysis 

Sonaecom carried out an internal consultative exercise, 

the main aim of which was to actively involve most 

of group management in sustainability strategy and 

reporting activities. Representatives from corporate 

areas and from the group’s companies participated and 

contributed towards identifying relevant stakeholders, 

the main sustainability issues, and decided on the main 

areas for action. 

Two internal workshops, held in September 2006 and 

January 2007, were part of these activities, consolidating 

Sonaecom’s approach to sustainability and establishing 

action plans. As a result, Sonaecom identified eight 

relevant stakeholder “families” with each family containing 

a long list of stakeholders, as illustrated in the box above. 

Composition of Sonaecom Stakeholder Families 

Financial Entities 

. Banks 

. Analysts 

. Shareholders and Investors 

Employees 

. Permanent Employees 

. Short-term contracts 

. Temporary Employees 

. Trainees 

. Outsourcing 

. Internal Consultants 

Regulatory and Governmental Entities 

. ANACOM - Telco regulator 

. Competition Authority 

. European Union 

. CMVM - Securities Market Commission 

. Legal courts 

. Government 

Community 

. Immigrants 

. Population living close to antennae 

. Special needs associations 

. Media 

. Opinion Leaders & Makers 

. Scientific Community 

. NGOs 

. Police and Firefighters 

. Information Illiterates 

Clients and Prospective Clients 

. Corporate 

. Small and Medium Enterprises (SME) 

. Public Administration 

. SOHO 

. Residential 

. Senior citizens 

Suppliers 

. Handsets 

. Outsourcing 

. Network Infrastructure 

. Network Equipment 

. IT Infrastructure 

. Printing 

. Content providers 

. Mktg agencies 

Business partners 

. Sales Channels 

. France Telecom 

. Technology providers 

. Media providers 

Industry . Competitors . Sector Associations 

The relevant sustainability issues consolidated during the 

internal consultation process were then clustered into ten issue 

groups. The issue clustering allowed Sonaecom to identify the 

issues of interest for two or more stakeholder families. 

Internal 

External 

Issue Groups 

. Human resources. 

. Corporate Governance 

. Compliance with legislation and rules 


. Environmental Management and Practices 

. Trustworthy information concerning economic / financial 

management practices and results 

· External communication regarding sustainabillity practices 

and results 

· Digital inclusion & responsible products / services 

· Calamities and disaster management support 

. Partnership 

Social Climate Survey 

The opinions of Sonaecom’s employees are critical and 

provide extensive feedback on what is important to 

change and implement in the organisation. In 2006, 

Sonaecom repeated its employee satisfaction survey, 

which has helped to guide the implementation of a 

number of initiatives, the results of which provide the 

drivers of Human Resources management policies, which 

will further increase satisfaction levels among employees. 

In this third survey, 1,466 employees took part out of a 

total of 1,997 or 73%, up 4.41% on 2005. 



Troiaresort – relationships with stakeholders 

From the time that the Troiaresort concept was defined, 

the developer has established communication channels 

with different stakeholders, in particular, public authorities, 

NGOs, students and the general public. 

The Strategic Environmental Assessment carried out by 

IMAR – the Maritime Research Institute, was one of the 

factors that contributed towards developing the design 

of Troiaresort. The developer, designers and consultants, 

particularly in the environmental area, worked together 

interactively with the fundamental goal of integrating 

the environmental component into the different projects 

making up the Troiaresort. 

Initially, these studies focused on the urban plan, which 

defined the main restrictions imposed on the Project 

and which guided the development of the resort 

concept. Later, different environmental impact studies 

were carried out, some of which are still underway, 

that evaluated the land use at the detailed planning 

level. Lastly, the Environmental Management System of 

Troiaresort was implemented. 

Due to the media interest generated by the Troiaresort 

project, Sonae Turismo is frequently contacted by 

different stakeholders. Since 2000, 45 requests were 

received concerning environmental information, 69% of 

which came from universities and research institutions. 

All of these requests were answered.

6.6. 

Community Involvement 

Sonae believes that it can make a contribution towards helping to solve social problems that are part of the society in 

which it operates. Such activities are undertaken both by the Belmiro de Azevedo Foundation and also directly by the 

sub-holdings of the Group, in accordance with the identified needs related to their operations. 

Through active dialogue with local organisations and continued investment, we seek to support and improve local 

community facilities, services and cultural events. Each sub-holding tries to identify the linkages between its core 

business and the needs of the community, in order to implement projects and activities that are mutually beneficial. 

Across the entire Group, companies have become involved with the community through a range of initiatives spread 

across the areas of health, culture and the environment. Many of these actions have become projects with a nationwide 

profile in Portugal such as Mission Smile of Modelo Continente. Others are being operated on a daily basis by various 

companies, and even if they have less media attention, their real importance lies in their capacity to bring something 

new and positive both to those participating and to those who are receiving support. 


Modelo Continente cares for and is heavily 

involved in the community 

Involvement with and support for the community, good 

citizenship and social cohesion, have always been part 

of Modelo Continente’s way of doing business. A wide 

range of initiatives that have been carried out over the 

years clearly demonstrate this, in such varied areas as 

health, education, culture, sport, the environment and 

educational activities. Some of these are next described: 

“Missão Sorriso” 

Support to: 

Portuguese Skin Cancer Association 

Portuguese Cardiology Foundation 

Women’ s Race 

Sport Zone’s 

Fathers’ Day Race 

Health 

Schools 

Support Program 

“Unite to Smile” 

Race 

Sport 

COMMUNITY 

INVOLVEMENT 

Education 

Computers 

for Schools 

Batteries 

for Books 

Environment 

Culture 

My 1 st Best Seller 

Shopping bags 

with 3 colours 

of recycling 

Entertainment 

Activities 

Modelo 

Theatre Nights 

Leopoldina Musical 

Modelo Christmas 


.Through “Missão Sorriso” (Mission Smile), Modelo 

Continente helped to equip 25 paediatric units 

By selling Leopoldina children’s books and CDs in all Modelo 

Continente stores, funds are raised that are then used to 

buy medical/scientific, educational and entertainment 

equipment for paediatric units in hospitals that are within 

the catchments areas of these Hypermarkets. Between 

2003 and 2006, “Missão Sorriso” raised more than 2 million 

Euro to support 25 paediatric units and hospitals with 

more than 400 items of equipment donated. 

.Modelo Continente involves 680 thousand 

schoolchildren in projects that link reading to the 

environment 

“Pilhas de Livros” (Batteries for Books) is an initiative aimed 

at schools with children between the ages of 3 and 15. 

The aim is to encourage recycling of used batteries, while 

at the same time promoting the pleasure of reading by 

offering books to school libraries. This initiative, launched 

in 2004 and repeated every year since, has allowed more 

than 12 million used batteries to be collected during 

this time. In 2006, 5,600 schools and more than 680,000 

schoolchildren took part, and around 30,000 books were 

donated to schools. 

. Modelo Continente encourages new authors 

“My 1 st Best Seller” is a competition promoted by Modelo 

Continente with the aim of discovering new literary talent 

in Portugal. It is open to anyone who has not yet published 

a book. The winner has his/her book published and 

sold in Modelo Continente stores. 

.Modelo Continente gives the opportunity to the more 

isolated regions of Portugal to have access to theatre 

Given that culture has a relevant impact on the 

development of society, Modelo Continente supports 

access to the theatre for the populations in the more 

isolated areas of Portugal. The “Noites de Teatro 

Modelo” (Modelo Theatre Nights) bring culture to 

these communities through theatrical performances 

specifically created to be performed outside, travelling 

throughout the country and free for everyone. In 2006, 

performances took place in more than 70 locations, with 

55,000 spectators participating. 



63


Sonae Sierra has a strong interaction with the 

community in countries in which it operates. 

Some examples are: 

Fund Raising 

“Ajuda de Berço” in Portugal 

This association continues to play an active role in 

supporting pregnant women in financial difficulties 

and for children between the ages of 0 and 3. Donations 

were collected totalling € 32,190. 

Gil Campaign in Portugal 

Gil mascots raised funds for the setting up of Home 

Support Units. Donations totalling € 63,500 were 

collected. 

Environmental and Safety Education 

Environmental Education at Tivoli Shopping in Brazil 

In April 2006, Tivoli Shopping launched the project 

“Awareness through art: portraying the environment 

with the eyes of an investigator” with the objective of 

raising awareness among children, teenagers and adults 

about environmental concerns and in particular the 

conservation of water resources. The project welcomed 

around 100 students. 


Sonaecom clarifies doubts about 

electromagnetic fields 

Optimus is supporting a project called monIT, together with 

other operators and the Portuguese Telecommunications 

Institute. Its objective is to provide relevant information 

about Electro Magnetic Fields (EMF) associated with mobile 

communications and the general public, such as: 

1)Basic concepts related to electromagnetic waves, known 

exposure limits, bibliography, relevant references, etc. 

2)Results of measurements carried out by the project 

team in areas close to base station aerials, in public 

locations all over the Country. 

To view more information, please consult: 

http://www.lx.it.pt/monit/ 

The general public has available information from a 

competent and credible source, which is also the biggest 

specialist in this area in Portugal. 

Sonaecom keeps abreast with the latest available scientific 

results and developments to clarify any questions raised 

on this matter. 

EMF - Requests for information 

Dos Mares Shopping Centre in Spain 

Sonae Sierra, organised training for 2,000 children 

covering the environment and safety. During a guided 

visit, the school children were given training about 

waste separation and recycling, basic rules of the road, 

emergency exits, information points, escalators and 

Safety & Health. This is an on going action in Dos Mares, 

and is being replicated in many other shopping centres 

of Sonae Sierra’s portfolio, including Brazil. 

30 

25 

20 

15 

10 

5 

19 19 

29 

14 

0 

2003 

2004 

2005 

2006 


During 2006, we received 14 requests for information 

on the subject: 10 reports were prepared and sent to 

people living close to antennae, in 6 of which we included 

measurements made in the locations involved, while we 

gave clarification directly to 4 people who telephoned 

the call centre. 

Smile 

One of the corner stones of the company’s social 

contribution is its involvement with the community 

through Smile, Sonaecom’s Voluntary Team. Since its 

inception in December 2004, around 22% of employees 

of Sonaecom companies have taken part in voluntary 

activities which cover initiatives in a wide range of areas 

(solidarity, health, support to handicapped people, 

and child support). Smile carries out these activities all 

year round, through a series of on going activities such 

as support to schools, hospitalized children, and old 

people’s homes, and also awareness events such as blood 

donations, bone marrow collects and good environmental 

practices. Among the institutions with which Sonaecom 

has already worked, are “Aldeias SOS”, the “Legião da 

Boa Vontade”, “Acreditar”, “Obra do Frei Gil”, “Casa do 

Caminho”, “Ajuda de Mãe” and the “Red Cross”, among 

others. In 2006, involvement in Smile was broadened to 

include members of employees’ families. 

members of the children involved. The project, which will 

last for two years, is carried out by jointly implementing 

infrastructures (multimedia computers with broadband 

Internet connection), and leisure and training contents 

(leisure and training solutions for hospitalised children 

and specific training for hospital technicians and family 

members). The latter training is aimed at guaranteeing 

effective supervision of the children in their use of the 

computer and communications equipment. By the end 

of 2006, Sonaecom had worked with three hospitals and 

equipped them with fifteen Kanguru connections and six 

3G mobile phones (Video-Call). Sonaecom also sponsors 

all of the communications made with this equipment. 

Optimus provides SMS solution for the 

Ministry of Education 

Sonaecom has an established track record of innovation 

in messaging platforms, and this experience has enabled 

the company to use mobile technologies as a tool to 

reduce costs and increase efficiency of communications. 

Optimus, working with the Ministry of Education 

in Portugal (Department of Human Resources and 

Education), has been developing a pioneer project 

related to the 2006 placement of kindergarten workers 

and teachers in primary and secondary schools. 

A Smile with ICT 

In partnership with the FDTI (Foundation for the 

Communication of Information Technologies), Sonaecom 

took part in the ICT Paediatric project. The purpose 

of this is to furnish paediatric areas of public hospitals 

with technological infrastructure to allow hospitalised 

children to enjoy leisure moments and spend time with 

family or friends. It is aimed at children between 2 and 

14 years old, hospital technicians, volunteers and family 



65


Environmental education activities 

in Troiaresort 

Environmental education activities increase awareness 

among the community of environmental issues. At 

Troiaresort, these activities have been designed with 

the goal of encouraging public involvement concerning 

the sustainability of the area. For this reason, they are 

planned to attract a wide ranging public audience, in 

particular people from different age groups, and take 

place in different locations, ranging from beach to 

dunes and forest. The majority of those participating 

are schoolchildren between the ages of 6 and 14, but 

the range of activities have been increasing each year, 

and has led to higher education students attending as 

well as tourists and nearby residents. In addition to the 

environmental educational activities, a beach board was 

placed on the beach designed to increase environmental 

awareness of users by providing information about the 

special features of Troia, in particular the sand dunes, 

endemic plants and wildlife. 

Optimus provided a service that allowed teachers to 

find out, via SMS, the latest updated lists of candidates 

who have and have not been placed for the following 

academic year. To access the service, the teacher only 

needs to send an SMS, and then receives by return an 

SMS with information regarding his/her placement 

(whether or not he/she was placed, at what school, etc.). 

From the user point of view, the service has the following 

advantages: speed, convenience and the wide availability 

of the medium used (mobile phone). 

1 st Phase - 23,184 sms (80% of which were answered in 

less than 4 sec) 

2 nd Phase - 10,954 sms (95% of which were answered in 

less than 1 sec) 


Sustainability Report 06 Sonae SGPS, S.A. 

67

7. New Risks transformed into New Markets 

and New Businesses 

Throughout this report, we have stated that Sonae Group companies should look at the risks that they face as potential 

business opportunities. 

New environmental challenges and opportunities arise through both the need to incorporate environmental issues into 

the day to day management of companies, and also through the fact that new environmental regulations, for example 

in the area of energy production, may also be the source of new business activities. 

This has been the rationale underpinning the activity of TP - Sociedade Térmica Portuguesa, SA, a company within Sonae 

Capital, which, in partnership with other companies, has been developing the wind power and cogeneration businesses, 

thus identifying new clusters of economic activity, and factors of differentiation and competitiveness within Portugal. 

The Troiaresort Project also fits in with this approach. This emblematic project, which is important for Portugal, was 

developed with the goal of reconciling the economic, social and cultural growth of the region with the protection and 

preservation of specific environmental and archaeological aspects of the area covered by the project. In this resort, forests, 

endemic species and Roman ruins are an integral part of the search to maximise the financial return of the project. 

This approach was based on developing a project which aims to set itself apart by being different, and able to take 

advantage of the existing natural characteristics of the area, while always preserving the biodiversity as a cornerstone 

of the project. Thus, an area which previously had a set of risks linked to the existing urban infrastructure and various 

complex regional environmental and social issues, has been transformed into a business opportunity, differentiated by 

its management approach, which focuses on urban, social and environmental upgrade and improvement. 


Sonae is part of a partnership to produce 4% of 

total electricity production and 25% of all wind 

power energy in Portugal 

The growth of wind power energy in Portugal over the 

next 6 to 8 years will be closely linked to the consortium 

“Eólicas de Portugal” which has won a public tender offer 

from the Portuguese government for a lot of 1,200 MW of 

new wind power to be installed through to 2013. 

The Sonae group, through TP - Sociedade Térmica 

Portuguesa, SA, is part of a consortium which includes 

other wind energy promoters such as Enernova of the EDP 

group, Finerge, a company owned by the Endesa group 

and Generg. Another partner is the German manufacturer 

of wind turbines, Enercon, world leader in the production 

of the latest generation of wind turbines. Enercon will 

develop an industrial project the goal of which is to set 

up a wind energy production cluster in Portugal. 

ENEOP - Eólicas de Portugal, SA will build and install 49 

wind farms from the North to the South of Portugal, 

which will in all produce 2,700,000,000 kWh per annum, 

equal to around 4% of total electricity production in 

Portugal, and 25% of the country’s total wind power 

energy production, and which is sufficient to supply 

the domestic energy needs of more than 2,000,000 

people, almost a quarter of the country’s population. The 

electricity is produced with a 100% renewable and clean 

resource, avoiding the need to import fossil fuels such as 

coal or natural gas, and thus emission to the atmosphere 

of more than 1 million tons of greenhouse gases, such as 

CO 2 

, each year. 

Innovation, Synergies and Business Opportunity: 

the Wind Turbine Industrial Cluster in Viana 

do Castelo 

In conjunction with the installation of wind farms, ENEOP 

will develop an industrial project, which will be the heart 

of a new cluster for the manufacture, installation and 

maintenance of wind turbines, using state of the art 

technologies, and will be highly competitive in the global 

market for the latest generation of wind turbines. 

The project to be implemented in Viana do Castelo will 

include five units producing components and raw materials. 

The industrial complex will have other competency centers 

such as a research and development unit, and training, 

logistics, service and maintenance centers. 

Over and above the investment directly undertaken by 

ENEOP, the industrial cluster will include the involvement of 

29 companies which will supply all the goods and services 

necessary for the manufacture of wind turbines, and the 

installation and maintenance of the wind farms. 

Overall, the cluster will create around 1,800 direct jobs, 

and will export more than 60% of its production. The 

investment involved in “Eólicas de Portugal” will be around 

1,700 million euro, and will be a key structural project for 



69

the entire Minho-Lima region in terms of economic and 

social development. 

Partnership between Sonae and Endesa 

(through TP SA and Finerge) builds a 

cogeneration plant 

In 2006, TP S.A and Finerge designed, constructed and 

started up a cogeneration plant at the multinational tyre 

maker, Continental Mabor, in Lousado, Famalicão. 

For the manufacturing plant of Continental Mabor, 

cogeneration is a means of rationalising energy 

consumption, since the production of electrical energy 

that takes advantage of the heat produced by 

combustion, means a more efficient use of fuel, in this 

case natural gas. In other words, there is a saving in fuel 

consumption in a cogeneration plant compared to that 

necessary to produce the same quantities of thermal 

and electrical energy separately. 

The environmental added value of this Project comes 

basically from the high efficiency of the cogeneration 

electricity production process. The plant has an overall 

energy yield of 83% and an equivalent electrical output of 

73%, significantly higher than the output of a conventional 

combined cycle, natural gas electricity generation plant, 

which is around 55%. 

Continental Mabor Cogeneration Plant 

Energy Statistics 

Unidades 

Valores Anuais 

Electricity Produced MWh 39,600 

Steam Supplied to Continental Mabor ton 98,000 

Natural Gas Consumption m3 12,500,000 

Energy Efficiency 

Electrical Yield 31% 

Overall Yield 83% 

Equivalent Electrical Yield 73% 

Eco-Efficiency 

Primary Energy Saving 17% 

Natural Gas Consumption Saving m3 2,600,000 

CO 2 

Emissions Avoided kg 6,100,000 

The cogeneration plant, Enerlousado, has led to a saving of 

around 17% in the consumption of natural gas compared 

to that which would be used for the same production 

of electricity separately, equivalent to a reduction in CO 2 

emissions of 6,100 tons per year, thus contributing towards 

efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to the levels 

that Portugal has committed to in the Kyoto Protocol. 


Troiaresort 

Troiaresort is being developed in an area which previously 

had a number of risks relating to urban development 

carried out in the past, environmental restrictions and social 

issues. However, these risks have been transformed into a 

business opportunity. The area’s biodiversity and heritage 

are considered to be factors that differentiate the project, 

and which are capable of creating value and that can be 

capitalised into new tourism products and services. 



71

N 

IMAR - Linking Troiaresort to Research 

IMAR - Institute of Marine Research is an NGO whose 

founder members include the majority of Universities in 

Portugal that carry out research into the Marine Sciences. 

Since 1998, IMAR has been working with Troiaresort, 

coordinating the Marina and new Ferry Harbour 

Environmental Impact Assessment. In 2001, it began to 

carry out the environmental monitoring of Tróia. The main 

conclusions arrived at by the IMAR team are the natural 

accretion of the western side of the Tróia peninsula, and 

the fact that the project’s development appears to be 

having no significant negative impact on the environment. 

A number of positive environmental aspects have been 

detected, in particular the reduction of the pressure of 

humans on the salt marsh bird life due to control of visitor 

access. Also noteworthy has been the construction of off 

ground boardwalks, which have encouraged sand dune 

recovery and the re-colonisation by endemic plants of 

these habitats. 

Troiaresort 

Central Area 

Marina 

Bat Shelter 

Job Creation 

When fully operational, Troiaresort will create around 

4,000 direct and indirect jobs. 

Beach Area 

Pine tree reforestation 

Between 2000 and 2006, around 8000 wild pine trees 

(Pinus pinaster) were cut down due to a disease - the 

wild pine wood nematode. 

In the Environmental Management Programme for 

2006, one of the goals was to replant 50% of the pine 

trees cut down. This goal has been achieved and it is 

now expected that the remaining trees will be replanted 

during 2007. 

Golf and Hotel Resort 

Troia Golf 

In order to encourage eco-efficiency at Troia Golf, 

plans are underway to upgrade the irrigation system, 

including a new pumping station, and to improve 

the golf course lakes, in particular by waterproofing 

the lake bottoms. 


Since 2000, a protocol has existed with the National Forestry Department to manage the 

forested area of the Troia peninsula. As part of this protocol, steps were taken to combat the 

pine tree nematode and other existing diseases, and to control and eradicate exotic species 

that are negatively impacting local eco systems, with the goal of preserving biodiversity. 

Eco resort 

In order to promote the biodiversity of the area which is included in the 

Natura 2000 Network, the Eco resort project takes into account several 

aspects such as: 

. the removal of a dam, built in the early 1900’s for agricultural use, that will 

allow the local salt marsh habitat to be recovered, 

. 3 freshwater lakes that will encourage the presence of new species, in 

particular ducks and the purple gallinule (Porphyria martinica), 

. the wader community in the Caldeira lagoon is so numerous that, for some 

species, the population is greater than the total numbers that inhabit the 

entire Sado Estuary Nature Reserve. 

Roman Ruins 

The Roman Ruins of Troia are listed as a National Monument. A protocol has 

been signed with the IPA (Portuguese Institute of Archaeology) and IPPAR 

(Portuguese Institute of Architectural Heritage) for the preservation and 

improvement of the monument. 

Beach Fill 

The sand taken from excavations in the Central Area is being used for beach 

fill in the area next to the Roman Ruins. The main goal of this work is to 

efficiently protect this cultural heritage which was showing clear signs of 

deterioration.The beachfill was designed by IMAR in conjunction with the US 

Corps of Engineering. 

Golf 

Bat Shelter 

A free-tailed bat colony, with around 120 bats, was found in an unfinished tower 

block prior to its demolition. A new bat shelter was designed and built, which 

includes structural elements from the demolished tower, to ensure the best 

conditions for the colony. Soon after the demolition, in September 2005, about 

20 bats were found in the new shelter, and this number has remained steady, 

which suggests an excellent outcome. In fact, in most documented similar 

situations, the occupation of alternative shelters tends to take between one to 

two years after the loss of the original ones. 

New Ferry Harbour 



73

Glossary 

AA1000 

Developed by AccountAbility (an international professional institute 

dedicated to the promotion of social, ethical and overall organisational 

accountability), this is a standard providing the necessary methodology 

and tools to design, implement, evaluate and communicate quality 

dialogue with stakeholders. 

Carbon dioxide ( CO 2 

) 

A naturally occurring gas, and also a by-product of burning fossil fuels 

and biomass, as well as land-use changes and other industrial processes. 

It is the principal anthropogenic greenhouse gas that affects the Earth’s 

radiation balance. It is the reference gas against which other greenhouse 

gases are measured and therefore has a Global Warming Potential of 1. 

Climate change 

Climate change refers to a statistically significant variation in either the 

mean state of the climate or in its variability, persisting for an extended 

period (typically decades or longer). Climate change may be due to natural 

internal processes or external forcing, or to persistent anthropogenic 

changes in the composition of the atmosphere or in land use. 

Co-generation 

The joint production of heat (often in the form of steam) and power 

(usually in the form of electricity). 

Corporate Responsibility 

Business contribution to Sustainable Development. 

Eco-efficiency 

A business concept developed by the WBCSD with a view to the creation 

of new and better goods and services using fewer natural resources, and 

causing less pollution along the entire value chain. 

Electrical Equivalent Efficiency 

Equal to cogeneration electricity produced divided by the total fuel 

consumed in the process, from which is subtracted the fuel necessary 

to produce the thermal energy from cogeneration. This measure is 

directly comparable with the electrical efficiency of conventional power 

stations. 

Electro magnetic fields 

Electric fields are created by differences in voltage: the higher the voltage, 

the stronger will be the resultant field. Magnetic fields are created when 

electric current flows: the greater the current, the stronger the magnetic 

field. An electric field will exist even when there is no current flowing. If 

current does flow, the strength of the magnetic field will vary with power 

consumption but the electric field strength will be constant. 

EMAS 

The Eco-Management and Audit Scheme, a voluntary initiative set 

up through the European Union, designed to improve companies’ 

environmental performance. 

Emissions 

In the climate change context, emissions refer to the release of greenhouse 

gases and/or their precursors and aerosols into the atmosphere over a 

specified area and period of time. 

Energy efficiency 

Ratio of energy output of a conversion process or of a system to its 

energy input. 

Environmental Impact Assessment 

A means of ensuring that environmental considerations are taken into 

account at the planning stage of major projects, and required by law for 

certain types of project. 

Ergonomics 

The study of the relationship between workers and their environment, 

especially the equipment they use. 

Genetically Modified Organisms 

A genetically modified organism (GMO) is an organism whose genetic 

material has been altered using techniques in genetics generally known 

as recombinant DNA technology. Recombinant DNA technology is 

the ability to combine DNA molecules from different sources into 

one molecule in a test tube. Thus, the expression of certain traits, the 

phenotype of the organism, or the proteins it produces, can be altered 

through the modification of its genes. 

Greenhouse gases 

Collective term for those gases in the atmosphere that absorb long wave 

infra red radiation emitted from the earth’s surface, such as CO 2 

, Methane, 

and CFCs. These gases can be generated by human activities or naturally, 

and are responsible for heating up the earth’s atmosphere. 

Gross Value Added (GVA) 

The difference between the value of output and input in an economy. 

Ombudsman 

A term that was originally used to describe an official who investigates 

citizens’ complaints against the government or its servants, and which 

is nowadays a role created in some companies to deal with complaints 

from stakeholders. 

Recycling 

Reprocessing of recovered materials for its original or other purpose, 

including composting but excluding energy recovery. 

Reinsurance 

Reinsurance is a means by which an insurance company can protect 

itself against the risk of losses by transferring risk to other insurance 

companies. Individuals and corporations obtain insurance policies to 

provide protection for various risks (hurricanes, earthquakes, lawsuits, 

collisions, sickness and death, etc.). Re-insurers, in turn, provide insurance 

to insurance companies. 

Renewable energy 

Energy sources that are sustainable within a short time frame compared 

to the Earth’s natural cycles, and which include non-carbon technologies 

such as solar energy, hydropower, and wind, as well as carbon-neutral 

technologies such as biomass. 

SOHO 

Small Offices and Home Offices, a customer segmentation classification 

commonly used in the telecommunications business. 


The official portuguese nomenclature for the Sonae holding company 

Sub-holding 

A holding company within the Sonae Group, which directly or indirectly 

holds shares in related or associated undertakings in defined economic 

sectors. 

Supply chain 

The various activities related to or developed by a company with the 

purpose of meeting the needs of its clients, ranging from relations 

with suppliers to production and sales cycles up to the final stage of 

distribution to the end consumer. 

Sustainability 

A concept which involves companies, organisations and countries 

finding an appropriate balance between economic, environmental and 

social factors in the course of their growth and development. 

Sustainable Development 

Forms of progress that meet the needs of the present without 

compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs. 

WWF 

World Wildlife Fund, a global environmental conservation organisation. 


For more information about sustainability in Sonae’s sub holdings, please go to: 


www.modelocontinente.pt 


www.sonaesierra.com 


www.sonae.com 

Property 


Head Quarters 

Lugar do Espido, Via Norte, 4470-909 Maia, Portugal 

Consultants 

Triple Value | Sustentare 

Graphic Design 

Dematos Designers, Lda 

Printing 

Printed on Accent White paper 

Accent White paper is manufactured with 75% recovered fibre, obtained 

using 25% urban solid waste, 50% from the sawmill industry, and 25% 

chlorine free fibre 

Printed using vegetable oil based ink 

Printed by: Lidergraf, an ISO 14001 Environmentally Certified company 



75

SGPS, S.A. 

Head Office: Lugar do Espido, Via Norte, 4470-909 Maia, Portugal 

www.sonae.pt 

Share Capital: EUR 2,000,000,000 

Maia Commercial Registry and Fiscal Number 500 273 170

RA Sonae 59.indd

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