DIRS.INFO The most relevant business & tech news

The EU froze funds earmarked for Hungary and Poland over their nationalist governments' track record of undercutting liberal democratic rules. Portugal had disbursed 1.4 billion euros, or 8.5% of the total recovery funds assigned to it, to project promoters by the end of 2022. Romania and Portugal are the two countries pushing hardest to extend the 2026 deadline and Spain and other Eastern European countries are supporting their demands, a source with knowledge of the negotiations said. Some countries are devising workarounds for projects that are particularly important and look like they are unlikely to meet the deadline, said a source. This would imply budgeting and allocating funds before the projects have been commissioned in order to meet the 2026 deadline, the person said.

Like most European countries, Portugal is accelerating its shift to renewables to reduce reliance on imported fossil fuels whose prices have surged since Russia's invasion of Ukraine. He expected Europe's accelerating push for renewable energies to help streamline the licensing of hybrid projects and shorten their implementation times from up to six years now. It is already building four other parks in Iberia and plans to bring online 1.6 GW of hybrid capacity there this decade. EDPR has an installed capacity of 3.4 GW in Iberia alone and 14.3 GW globally. Reporting by Sergio Goncalves and Miguel Pereira, editing by Andrei Khalip and David EvansOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ ECB's Centeno: we are approaching the end of the interest rate rise process
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-10 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

LISBON, Jan 10 (Reuters) - European Central Bank's governing council member Mario Centeno said on Tuesday the current process of interest rate increases is approaching its end. "We are approaching the end of the current process of interest rate hikes, I believe that is true," he said. Annual inflation in the euro zone slowed to 9.2% in December from 10.1% in November, data from Eurostat showed on Friday. The ECB forecast a gradual decline in inflation but only approaching its 2% target within three years. Reporting by Sergio Goncalves; Editing by Inti Landauro and Andrea RicciOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ ECB's Centeno says interest rate close to peaking if no new shocks
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-06 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

LISBON, Jan 6 (Reuters) - The European Central Bank's key interest rate is nearing its peak amid efforts to bring down inflation, unless new external shocks emerge, ECB Governing Council member Mario Centeno said on Friday. He told a conference that interest rates will rise until the ECB considers that the inflation can be brought down to its medium-term target of 2% as quickly as possible. "We are on the way to achieving it...but we cannot hesitate in this process" of controlling inflation, he said. Reporting by Sergio Goncalves, writing by Andrei KhalipOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Portugal approves windfall tax on energy firms, food retailers
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-21 | by ( Sergio Goncalves | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

LISBON, Dec 20 (Reuters) - Portugal's parliament on Tuesday approved a 33% tax on the windfall profits that energy companies and food retailers may be bringing in with inflation at a near three-decade high. Tax affairs chief at the Finance Ministry, Nuno Felix, said the new "exceptional and strictly temporary" tax was in line with that approved by the European Union for the energy sector. In Portugal, this tax targets the excess profits of companies operating in the crude oil, natural gas, coal and refinery sectors, but also those of food retailers. In Portugal, the standard rate on corporate profits is 21%. Portugal's second-largest retailer Jeronimo Martins (JMT.LS) posted a 29% rise in January-September net profit, as soaring inflation drove sales figures higher.

☆ Analysis: Italy's rates clash with ECB a sign of things to come for euro zone
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-20 | by ( Francesco Canepa | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Summary Euro zone governments offering cost-of-living subsidiesECB has warned it won't compensate for "policy errors"Clashes seen widening beyond ItalyFRANKFURT, Dec 20 (Reuters) - Attacks by Italy's new government on the European Central Bank over its plans to raise borrowing costs may be a sign of things to come for a euro zone struggling with inflation and debt. It also showed the ECB did not fear penalising the most indebted of the 19 euro zone countries, Italy among them, which tend to see their borrowing costs rise disproportionately when credit becomes more expensive. "The ECB is clearly ready to take risks with fragmentation in the euro area," Gilles Moec, chief economist at AXA Investment Managers, said. With bigger deficits to refinance and the ECB raising interest rates while also winding down its bond purchases, markets have pushed up yields across the euro zone and particularly for the weakest borrowers, such as Italy. But the ECB has been clear it won't be used to rescue countries that have made imprudent "policy errors".

[1/2] Soccer Football - FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 - Fans in Lisbon watch Morocco v Portugal - Lisbon, Portugal - December 10, 2022 Portugal fan reacts as he watches the match REUTERS/Rodrigo AntunesLISBON, Dec 10 (Reuters) - Portugal fans were overcome with sadness and frustration on Saturday after their fancied team crashed out of the World Cup to Morocco, a lower-ranked side that had already ousted Spain. Portugal, fresh from their knockout demolition of Switzerland, were beaten by Morocco 1-0. The country's all-time top scorer Cristiano Ronaldo was again out of the starting line-up after being benched for the last-16 tie against Switzerland. The country's football federation had earlier had to publicly deny reports that the skipper had threatened to leave during the tournament. "We are happy on behalf of the whole of Africa, because Morocco was representing Africa," said Moroccan tourist Amin Abdul, in Lisbon.

REUTERS/Violeta Santos MouraCompanies Enagas SA FollowBARCELONA/LISBON, Dec 9 (Reuters) - An underwater pipeline to carry green hydrogen between Barcelona and Marseille will cost around 2 billion euros ($2.1 billion), according to preliminary estimates of the project agreed between Spain, Portugal and France, two sources told Reuters. Spain and Portugal aim to become clean hydrogen hubs and net energy exporters, causing tensions with France which plans to produce its own hydrogen using nuclear energy. The pipeline will only carry hydrogen in order to meet EU funding criteria, though "improvements" could be made in future to allow for some gas, a Spanish government source said. As a result, the industry source said, they have pushed their four grid operators to "speed up technical studies, potential pipeline layouts and cost assessments". "If you already have an overland pipeline why build an undersea pipeline?"

☆ Hydrogen pipeline from Spain to France to cost 2.5 bln euros, Spanish PM Sanchez says
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-09 | by ( Belén Carreño | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

ALICANTE, Spain, Dec 9 (Reuters) - An underwater pipeline to carry green hydrogen between Spain and France will cost about 2.5 billion euros ($2.64 billion), Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said on Friday, adding that he hoped the European Union would partly fund the project. An additional pipeline connecting Spain and Portugal will cost 300 million euros, a Spanish source said. The undersea section will be known as BarMar, while the entire hydrogen corridor connecting Spain and Portugal to France will be called H2MED, Sanchez confirmed. Sanchez said that France, Spain and Portugal would apply for EU funds to pay for up to 50% of H2MED's cost. "If you already have an overland pipeline why build an undersea pipeline?"

LISBON, Dec 8 (Reuters) - Portugal wants to speed up investments in green hydrogen projects, which are essential to decarbonize the economy, and will end mandatory environmental assessments for them in March 2023, Prime Minister Antonio Costa said. Portugal expects to become a major producer and exporter of green hydrogen with 70 private investors or groups planning to spend 10 billion euros ($10.51 billion). Environmentalists have criticized the so-called Simplex package as it may have impacts on nature and the well-being of populations. Portugal's largest utility EDP (EDP.LS) and oil and gas company Galp Energia (GALP.LS) are both planning to build green hydrogen plants in the industrial hub of Sines. The three main glass producers and two biggest cement makers, together accounting for 10% of the country's industrial carbon emissions, also joined a new consortium to launch a green hydrogen plant.

☆ Portugal's parliament passes 2023 budget bill on final reading
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-25 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

LISBON, Nov 25 (Reuters) - Portugal's parliament on Friday passed the majority Socialist government's 2023 budget, which aims to further slash the deficit and debt even as economic growth is expected to slow down sharply. On its final reading, the bill was backed only by the 120 Socialist lawmakers in the 230-seat house. Two parties with one seat each abstained, and all other parties voted against. The government hopes to cut the budget deficit to 0.9% of GDP next year from 1.9% in 2022, while public debt should fall to 110.8% of GDP after a projected 115% in 2022. Reporting by Sergio Goncalves; editing by Andrei KhalipOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

LISBON, Nov 23 (Reuters) - Further consolidation of Portugal's banking sector is inevitable, European Central Bank member Mario Centeno told Reuters on Wednesday, calling "remarkable" the recent progress the country's banks have made on strengthening capital and reducing risk. Analysts have said that Portuguese banks should bet on M&A operations to achieve better competitive conditions, despite the five largest players' owning 80% to 85% of banking assets. Portugal's banks are still scarred from a debt crisis and a spike in NPLs after the 2010-13 recession. The NPL ratio for Portugal's lenders was 3.4% of total credit in June, versus 17.9% in mid-2016. "Although I am very satisfied with the evolution...there is no point in resting, we have to challenge ourselves," Centeno said.

"There's now a big push to get nature into sovereign debt markets," said Simon Zadek, executive director at NatureFinance, which advises governments on debt-for-nature swaps and other types of climate-focused finance. At that level, it would be the biggest debt-for-nature swap struck to date. The combined value of swap deals to date is $3.7 billion, according to the data. Securing the buy-in of development banks is usually key for the economics of a deal. The WWF has projects in Central and South America where they are monitoring deforestation by tracking jaguars, said Brenes, who has worked on debt-for-nature swaps for the last 25 years.

LISBON, Nov 16 (Reuters) - Portugal expects economic growth of at least 6.7% this year, beating its 6.5% forecast on the back of domestic demand and tourism, helping the country further slash one of Europe's heaviest public debt burdens, its finance minister told Reuters. "Even if (quarter-on-quarter) growth is zero in the fourth quarter, we're going to have a growth rate of 6.7% in 2022, one of the highest in Europe," Medina said. Growth accelerated to 0.4% in the third quarter from the previous quarter's 0.1% as private consumption unexpectedly rose despite inflation at three-decade highs. Despite a worrying fast rise in rates, Medina expects Portugal to avoid a spike in bad loans of households thanks to measures such as a recent decree ordering banks to renegotiate mortgages of up to 300,000 euros for vulnerable families. ($1 = 0.9626 euros)Reporting by Sergio Goncalves and Aislinn Laing, editing by Andrei Khalip and Emelia Sithole-MatariseOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Uber whistleblower says current business model 'absolutely' unsustainable
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-02 | by ( Sergio Goncalves | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

REUTERS/Pedro NunesLISBON, Nov 2 (Reuters) - Mark MacGann, the whistleblower behind the so-called Uber Files, said on Wednesday that the ride-hailing company seemed to be taking steps toward improving its work culture but that its business model was still "absolutely" unsustainable. MacGann said Uber's current CEO, Dara Khosrowshahi, and his executive team "have done a lot of good things, but they have so, so far to go." "My message to Uber is: 'you've done well, (but) you can do it so much better (because) the current model is absolutely not sustainable,'" MacGann told a news conference during Europe's largest tech conference, the Web Summit, in Lisbon. He said Uber recently reiterated that the "core of its business model is independent contractors, since everybody wants to be self-employed, everybody wants flexibility." "Uber is pumping tens of millions of dollars in Europe, United States, other parts of the world fighting legislation," he said.

LISBON, Nov 2 (Reuters) - Plans by central banks to launch digital currencies are not a threat to other cryptocurrencies as they would validate blockchain technology and build trust among sceptics, the CEO of the world's largest crypto exchange, Binance, said on Wednesday. Most major central banks, including the U.S. Federal Reserve, the Bank of England and the European Central Bank, are studying the potential launch of a digital version of their currencies, dubbed CBDC. read more"Is it (CBDC) a threat to Binance or other crypto-currencies? He said the blockchain technology behind cryptocurrencies should be available for CBDC and adopted by governments. Still, he said, recently cryptocurrency has been highly correlated with the stock market, with both assets correcting sharply as central banks hike interest rates to control record inflation.

"Number one is that we want to be extremely supportive of free speech," Zhao said at the opening event of Europe's largest tech conference, the Web Summit, in Lisbon, adding that Twitter is "where people express their opinions". "It is an important free speech platform - that's the number one reason," he added. Binance said last week it is creating a team to work on how blockchain and crypto could be helpful to Twitter. "I'm a heavy Twitter user," Zhao said, adding Binance planned to be a long-term investor in the platform. Asked about other ideas Musk has for the platform, Zhao said: "Elon Musk is a very hard guy to predict."

[1/2] Ukraine's First Lady, Olena Zelenska, attends the opening event of Europe's largest tech conference, the Web Summit, in Lisbon, Portugal, November 1, 2022. REUTERS/Pedro NunesLISBON, Nov 1 (Reuters) - In an emotional appeal, Ukrainian first lady Olena Zelenska urged tech workers from around the world on Tuesday to create innovations to stop Russia and help save people in her war-torn country. Describing technology as a "battlefield" in the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Zelenska said that technological equipment such as drones and missiles were being used to "kill people," not to save them. Mykhailo Fedorov, Ukraine's vice prime minister who also runs the ministry of digital transformation, will also speak. Reporting by Catarina Demony, Sergio Goncalves and Pedro Nunes in Lisbon Editing by Matthew LewisOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Portugal's Millennium bcp 9-month profit jumps 63%, strong core income
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-31 | by ( Sergio Goncalves | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The lender netted 97.2 million euros ($96.1 million) between January and September, up from 59.5 million euros a year earlier. Profit in its domestic business more than doubled to 295.7 million euros. Its half-owned Polish subsidiary, Bank Millennium (MILP.WA), last week reported a nine-month loss of 270.5 million euros as it counted the cost of loan repayment holidays imposed on Polish banks in July. Millennium bcp's consolidated net interest income, or earnings on loans minus deposit costs, rose 32.7% to 1.54 billion euros in the nine months. Its fees and commissions grew 3.7% to 573.8 million euros.

☆ Nigeria LNG outage threatens Europe, traders with higher costs
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-18 | by ( Libgeorge Marwa Rashad | Marwa Rashad | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

LAGOS/LONDON, Oct 18 (Reuters) - European countries and gas traders are reeling from the latest LNG supply shock - a force majeure from Nigeria LNG - that threatens nearly 4% of global supply and further squeezes the continent's resources in absence of Russian pipeline gas. Nigeria LNG declared force majeure this week due to heavy flooding in that it said impacted virtually all of its gas suppliers. NLNG, with 22 million tonnes per year of capacity, said it is working to mitigate the impact, but flood waters are still rising. Unplanned disruptions in the United States, Nigeria and Australia have forced traders to pay millions in inflated costs for alternative supplies. France's Total, the second-largest offtaker, takes around 3 million tonnes per year.

☆ Portugal's draft budget targets lower deficit despite steep slowdown
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-10 | by ( Sergio Goncalves | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

LISBON, Oct 10 (Reuters) - Portugal unveiled its draft 2023 budget on Monday, projecting a steep slowdown in economic growth with high energy and food prices expected to weigh on private consumption, but still promising to further slash the public deficit. The government will trim taxes for workers in the two lowest income brackets, while pensions will be raised by 3.5-4.5%. The government expects EU-harmonised inflation in Portugal to slow to 4% next year from 7.4% in 2022. Now the government expects private consumption, which accounts for nearly two-thirds of GDP, to grow by just 0.7%, compared to 5.4% in 2022. The debt estimate for this year is lower than the government's previous forecast of about 120%.

☆ Portugal's TAP says hackers stole, published passengers' personal data
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-22 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

LISBON, Sept 22 (Reuters) - Portugal's flag carrier TAP told customers on Thursday that hackers had stolen some of their personal data and published it on the dark web, although the state-owed airline said all payment details appeared to be safe. "The release of the personal data via open sources could increase the risk of their illegal use, namely aimed at obtaining other data that could compromise the digital systems in fraudulent attempts such as phishing," TAP said. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Register"There are no signs that any payments data have been retrieved from TAP systems," it said. The airline also said it had taken immediate containment measures to keep its systems working and to protect other data. TAP CEO Christine Ourmieres-Widener told reporters the airline was "very serious about client data" and said the incident was upsetting.

☆ Portugal says could face shortage if Nigeria does not deliver all LNG due
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-19 | by ( Sergio Goncalves | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

LISBON, Sept 19 (Reuters) - Portugal could face supply problems this winter if Nigeria does not deliver all the liquefied natural gas (LNG) it is due to, the European Union country's environment and energy minister said on Monday. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterCordeiro did not say what would prevent Nigeria supplying the LNG it was contracted to. Oil and gas output in Nigeria has been throttled by theft and vandalism of pipelines, leaving gas producer Nigeria LNG Ltd's terminal at Bonny Island operating at 60% capacity. Nigeria LNG, which is owned by state-oil company NNPC Ltd, Shell (SHEL.L), TotalEnergies (TTEF.PA) and Eni (ENI.MI), did not immediately respond to a request for comment. read morePortugal last year imported 2.8 billion cubic meters of LNG from Nigeria, or 49.5% of total imports, while the United States was the second-largest supplier with a share of 33.3%.

Search resuls for: "Sérgio Gonçalves"

23 mentions found