Benfica President Rui Costa's Property Company Appears on the Bank of Portugal's Credit-Default Register Over a €15.3 Million Loan

A real-estate company controlled by Rui Costa, the president of Sport Lisboa e Benfica, has been entered on the Bank of Portugal's credit-default register over an unpaid €15.3 million loan — a rare glimpse of financial strain behind one of the biggest names in Portuguese football.

The firm, 10 Invest – Investimentos Imobiliários, is flagged in the Central de Responsabilidades de Crédito (Central Credit Register) kept by the Banco de Portugal (Bank of Portugal) — the database, widely known as the “blacklist,” that records borrowers in default on capital, interest and charges. The credit in question is a €15.3 million facility from Banco Montepio.

Profitable on paper, empty in the bank

The striking part is that 10 Invest is not, on the face of it, a failing business. It reported a profit of about €670,000 for 2025. But its accounts show just €536.25 in cash at the year-end, against some €15 million in financial debt — and almost all of its assets are tied up as unsold property inventory rather than as anything liquid. In other words, the company's ability to pay depends entirely on selling flats and on refinancing; when the sales and the financing stall at the same time, there is nothing left to service the loan.

Costa holds a direct 9.8% stake in the company, with the remainder held through a holding vehicle he controls together with his children.

What the loan financed

The Banco Montepio credit bankrolled “Dream Living,” a luxury residential project of six buildings in the Serra de Carnaxide, in the municipality of Oeiras just west of Lisbon, developed in partnership with the JPS Group. It is exactly the kind of high-end development that flourished through years of cheap money and booming demand — and exactly the kind now exposed as borrowing costs stay elevated and buyers grow scarcer at the top of the market.

Why it matters

Beyond the celebrity of the name, the episode is a small but telling signal about the health of Portugal's luxury-property segment. A developer can post an accounting profit and still run out of cash to pay the bank once its wealth is locked up in unsold buildings. As the country argues over housing affordability at the other end of the market, the appearance of a high-profile promoter on the Bank of Portugal's default list is a reminder that the credit cycle is turning — and that even marquee projects are not immune.