RA Sonae 59.indd

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
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Sonae SGPS
Sonaecom
Sustainability Report 06
Sonae SGPS, S.A.
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