Friday, March 29, 2024

The Eve

António Cunha Vaz, Chairman at CV&A

The day before something we wish for, or not, is always relevant. This issue of Prémio is the last of the year and so, therefore, the new year’s eve issue. And what a year that lies ahead! CV&A, the owner of Prémio, celebrates eighteen years of age. A journey like many others. With mishaps, that only makes us stronger, with professionalism, inside and outside the country of origin, with dedication, always with a purpose in mind: to serve better!

And this issue of Prémio represents also the issue of a certain eve of many important events in the world. The presidential elections in the United States of America are approaching as well as the Portuguese presidential elections, the pre-campaigns for the local elections are heating the engines – and the choice of candidates is generating a big fuss inside the political parties. In civil society, there are also many eves to factor in. The most important, considering the times we are going through and as I write this text, is that of the “vaccine for COVID 19” whose eve we hope will be here soon. But we will have other eves such as the end of the moratoriums, the eve of the end of another school year with face-to-face teaching and the return to online classes, the eve of more unemployment and more company closures.

Around the world, there are also many eves in business and in the political and social spheres: From the United Kingdom to the United States, from Lebanon to Israel – with the recent agreements mediated by Trump encouraging those who believe in Peace -, from India to Brazil – with COVID 19 as the backdrop -, through problems with the Islamic state in Mozambique, the world oil crisis, refugees and illegal migrants and the helplessness of the western world, the said developed world, to deal with increasingly unpredictable situations, all the way to the European Union, that tries to stand for union but ends right there, and the United Nations, which, hampered by its internal system that dates back to the time of its creation, does not have the necessary means and strength to build a better world.

Amid all these important realities, life goes on and hope rests on other tomorrows that may bring more joy than each of the coming eves.

Companies keep doing business. Slowly, hesitantly, some entrepreneurs are struggling to survive, while others, with a more refined sense of social responsibility and with healthier companies, engage in a herculean effort to secure jobs, giving up dividends and bonuses, without resorting to moratoriums to pay both taxes and social security contributions – as they will have to pay them later. Globalization works on electronic platforms, travel is reduced to the utmost necessary and these three months on the eve of the end of 2020 will dictate to a great extent how the corporate accounts will be when we enter 2021.

2019 ended late, from the point of view of financial statements – as there was an extended deadline to submit them – but it ended well for CV&A. Among the companies in the sector that submit their legally required financial statements, CV&A is in the leading position. Should you have any doubts just check the data next to the relevant official source and compare them. It feels good to be in the leading position in a sector. But it brings a lot of responsibility with it. Leading growth in a sector for three consecutive years is remarkable, but being the absolute leader in a particular sector is a responsibility. When we lead we feel we might be on the eve of stop leading. That is why I always tell my workers, on behalf of the company’s Board of Directors, the following La Palisse truth: whoever is in first place is poised to lose. Whoever lags behind can reach first place. It is therefore necessary that we remain focused in 2020 until the end in order to prevent this year from becoming the eve of the loss of leadership. And such leadership was particularly pleasant in 2019. CV&A has only one brand. Others operate with several brands for reasons that only concern them. In the Portuguese market, CV&A is a leader, even compared to competitors that have several brands and are able, in their own right, to add up the revenue of all combined. I mean, of course, companies that comply with the law and submit their financial statements to the relevant authorities. But there is more: we pride ourselves for having a percentage of Government funds (Central, Regional or Local Government) in CV&A’s revenue that does not exceed 1% of the total revenue. This means that there is a big market out allowing companies to grow.

The international market in which we operate has rebounded, having accounted for around 35% of 2019 turnover, and we believe that this figure was just the eve of better figures in 2020 and in the years to come. Angola, Brazil, Guinea-Bissau and Mozambique have been interesting bets and some steps have been taken in Latin American markets. Spain and Colombia keep offering sustained growth and the operations in our neighbouring country and the experience of working together with our colleagues in the Albion Group has always been inspiring. On the eve of 2020 and still unaware of the pandemic, we had plans that we had to review in March. Things were promising on the eve of the pandemic. The pandemic period we are still experiencing is becoming a true lesson. We expect to maintain good figures in this atypical 2020 and, more than anything, to serve our customers better and better. The newsletters we released during the first critical period of the pandemic were appreciated by all recipients, service innovation increased our digital presence, teleworking became a reality and mirror teams became commonplace – if you can say that – in our working life.

As regards this eve and last quarter all we ask is dedication and professionalism to keep sowing the seeds in new markets and projects, so that 2021 may reflect what we did in 2020. This is within our grasp. Our Customers, with the exception of one, had an exceptional attitude towards us. I believe that we gave back in the exact measure and we will continue to do so.

Finally and this is particularly important we should all bear in mind that we are on the eve of the Portuguese Presidency of the European Union. Portugal takes up already a prominent place in the “Troika” – the recent trip to Lisbon of the President of the European Commission for a meeting of the Portuguese Council of State is a good sign of the importance that the Union ascribes to the moment we are going through. CV&A is developing a number of public affairs actions, in Lisbon and Brussels, with national and international Customers and will continue to do so until 30 June 2021.

And now, please read Prémio and remember that CV&A is here to serve companies and Portugal and is entirely at your service. As always as!

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