Prémio is already part of the quarterly reading habits of approximately three and a half thousand people. It’s a free media that reflects responsible opinions from a number of players in markets where the company that owns it operates. At Prémio we are here just to inform. To confront ideas. To reflect on the world. It contributes to the reading habits and promotion of both media outlets and good journalism. Just like we do with the best in the business sector. In this issue we tried to offer advertising space to a number of media outlets. It’s our consistent contribution to make sure that more newspapers and magazines will be sold, more television watched and more radio listened, but also for people to read, listen and see more news online. And if I say that our contribution is coherent it’s only because, as in almost everything, we are unique. Until the closing of this magazine only one communication consultant company had signed the agreement with Visapress. CV&A! That is, we signed an agreement that says, in practice, that we are against piracy, the use of journalistic articles without authorization from their authors and the media in where they are published. And the reason is simple: if we want good information, we must have good journalists. Young or more experienced, they are all entitled to a salary. It’s the media outlets that pay their wages. If we help stealing copyrights from journalists and revenue from the media, we will be accomplices in an activity that has been there for a long time and this is, at the very least, unacceptable.

The March issue of Prémio features a back cover advertisement as a tribute to the National Rugby Team. It’s the first time that a communication company endorses and sponsors a sports federation. Rugby shares the same values of those at CV&A and Prémio: commitment, resilience, transparency, Portugal and multicontinental vision. It’s a sponsorship with a high value for a company the size of CV&A. But it was assumed and cherished by everyone within the company. We have already participated in similar actions in Portuguese society. In the recent past, we had already made a strong commitment to culture. Everyone remembers when the Portuguese State, through the National Museum of Ancient Art, managed to acquire the painting by Domingos Sequeira, “The Adoration of the Magi”. And if the largest donor was the Aga Khan Foundation and the second largest donor was a bank, the third largest donor, along with another bank, was CV&A. This is what distinguishes us. We are here for the society we develop our business in.

In this first issue of 2020 we tried to cover important events for the country, but also for the world. The three major international events in which Portugal will participate – European Football Championship, Expo Dubai and Tokyo Olympics -, the primary elections in the United States of America, Coronavirus in a partnership with “The Guardian”, the world in numbers (the next three quarters), in a partnership with “The Economist”, and Brazil.  We wanted to offer our readers internationally renowned information and to that end we relied on the contribution of opinionators of indisputable value. We hope you enjoy it! About Angola, Mozambique and Guinea Bissau, our columnists are the most qualified to write.

This concern is related to the increasing number of non-Portuguese and even non-lusophone readers (either on paper or on the website www.revistapremio.pt), considering that CV&A has customers from China to Australia, from Latin America to Canada, through the United States of America, strongly motivated to work in Sub-Saharan Africa and, of course, in Europe. The reach and distribution of Prémio makes it one of the most widely read magazines in Portugal. This magazine reaches politicians – members of parliament, members of Central and Regional Governments, staff supporting parliamentary and ministerial offices, regulators, bar associations, economists and chartered accountants among others, chambers of commerce, embassies, academics, journalists and, last but of great importance, companies: those in PSI 20, Euronext, the companies and entrepreneurs associations, the large unlisted Portuguese and international companies, as well as some representations of UN and European Union bodies in our Country. Prémio paper edition also reaches many politicians, businessmen, professionals and academics outside the country. This way we create a network that we put at the service of our customers and Portugal.

We could not help talking about the geographies in which we are most active: Portugal, Angola, Brazil, Guinea Bissau and Mozambique are feature also in this issue. In the near future, as in the recent past, other markets will reach more readers, reflecting our activity and what we have planned.

I finish with the figures for 2019. The results presented, with pride, show that we had another good year. Now comes the problem that has been there in the last four years: improving performance, ensuring solidity to the company, thereby ensuring value creation for the teams of employees and shareholders. Without forgetting, of course, the contribution to society. Compared to the same period last year, CV&A has a turnover that is growing at around 25%, a net result with a growth of around 60% and an EBITDA that compares positively with the previous year by almost 35%. Above all, today we are a more solid company with financial autonomy and solvency that offers us guarantees for the future.

Until the end of June I wish you a nice reading of Prémio magazine and other newspapers and magazines, on paper and online, good television and radio information and, of course, excellent business, in a world free of viruses of any kind.