ManpowerGroup's Q3 2026 Net Employment Outlook for Portugal slips to +18%, an 11 pp drop from Q2. Construction leads sectors at +36% as 47% of employers freeze headcount and 17% plan reductions, with very-large employers at just +5%.
Statistics Portugal puts the Índice de Custos de Construção de Habitação Nova at +5.9% year-on-year in April — a 0.2 pp acceleration on March — with labour contributing 3.4 points and materials 2.5 points to the headline cost squeeze that keeps Portuguese developer margins tight.
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.
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 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.
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%....
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.
