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Construction

Muddy Waters Drags Mota-Engil Into a Texas Civil-Defamation Action Over Carlos Mota Santos's December 2024 Expresso Interview — Group Frames the 19 December 2025 Filing as Carrying 'Little Relevance' to Operations

Muddy Waters Drags Mota-Engil Into a Texas Civil-Defamation Action Over Carlos Mota Santos's December 2024 Expresso Interview — Group Frames the 19 December 2025 Filing as Carrying 'Little Relevance' to Operations

Muddy Waters Capital sued Mota-Engil in a Texas civil court on 19 December 2025 for defamation tied to a December 2024 Expresso interview with CEO Carlos Mota Santos. The group has filed for dismissal and CFO José Carlos Nogueira frames the case as carrying 'little relevance' to operations.
The Portugal Brief
Mota-Engil Books a Record €35 Million Q1 Profit on Brazilian Backlog Push — Carteira de Encomendas Stretches to €16.9 Billion as Santos-Guarujá Tunnel Anchors the New Pipeline

Mota-Engil Books a Record €35 Million Q1 Profit on Brazilian Backlog Push — Carteira de Encomendas Stretches to €16.9 Billion as Santos-Guarujá Tunnel Anchors the New Pipeline

Mota-Engil closes Q1 2026 with €35 million of net profit, the strongest first quarter in the company's history at +31% YoY. Revenue lifts to €1,394 million, EBITDA crosses €234 million at a 17% margin and the order book stretches to €16.9 billion, equivalent to 3.6 years of activity.
The Portugal Brief
AdC Greenlights Jerónimo Martins, Visabeira and B&B Joint Buyout of Algarve Construction-Waste Operator Europontal on 15 May — Pingo Doce Holding Crosses Into Non-Hazardous RCD

AdC Greenlights Jerónimo Martins, Visabeira and B&B Joint Buyout of Algarve Construction-Waste Operator Europontal on 15 May — Pingo Doce Holding Crosses Into Non-Hazardous RCD

The Autoridade da Concorrência cleared the three-way Jerónimo Martins / Visabeira / B&B acquisition of Europontal on Friday 15 May 2026 with a non-opposition decision. The Algarve operator collects non-hazardous construction and demolition waste — Pingo Doce's parent enters a new vertical.
The Portugal Brief
Pinto Luz's Modular Construction Acordo-Quadro Lines Up Against AICCOPN's +26% Cement Print While Public Tenders Contract 26% — Portugal's Housing Supply Side Splits Into a Two-Speed Pipeline With Idealista Reading Stock Down 14%

Pinto Luz's Modular Construction Acordo-Quadro Lines Up Against AICCOPN's +26% Cement Print While Public Tenders Contract 26% — Portugal's Housing Supply Side Splits Into a Two-Speed Pipeline With Idealista Reading Stock Down 14%

Four data points from this week describe the same Portuguese housing-supply crisis from four different angles. Idealista's Q1 2026 housing-stock read printed a 14% national contraction in active listings , with Faro -38%, Porto -25% and Lisbon -13%....
The Portugal Brief
Miguel Pinto Luz Prepares a Modular Construction Acordo-Quadro for Câmaras Municipais After His Jornal de Negócios Podcast on Wednesday 13 May — Industrialised-Building Diploma Anchors the Government's Habitação Pipeline

Miguel Pinto Luz Prepares a Modular Construction Acordo-Quadro for Câmaras Municipais After His Jornal de Negócios Podcast on Wednesday 13 May — Industrialised-Building Diploma Anchors the Government's Habitação Pipeline

Infrastructure Minister Pinto Luz confirmed on a Jornal de Negócios podcast that an acordo-quadro for modular construction lands at the Conselho de Ministros within weeks. The framework opens municipal tenders to industrialised builders alongside the October 2025 design-build reform.
The Portugal Brief
INE Reads New-Housing Construction Costs Up 5.8% in March 2026 — Labour Component Climbs 8.2% Against a 3.7% Materials Print, the Wedge Widens 1.0 Percentage Points From February and the Index Now Sits 30%-Plus Above the 2021 Base

INE Reads New-Housing Construction Costs Up 5.8% in March 2026 — Labour Component Climbs 8.2% Against a 3.7% Materials Print, the Wedge Widens 1.0 Percentage Points From February and the Index Now Sits 30%-Plus Above the 2021 Base

INE reads the Construction Cost Index for new housing at +5.8% year-on-year in March 2026 — labour climbs 8.2%, materials 3.7%, and the headline wedge widens 1.0pp from February. The labour-cost trajectory is the structural read inside Portugal's housing-affordability calculus.
The Portugal Brief