IKEA has announced that it is launching an online store in Spain similar to the e-commerce platform it runs in the US, Holland and the UK. "The aim is to facilitate purchases through various sales channels," according to the company.
To back up the Swedish multinational’s online offering, IKEA also is building a new type of store format located in city centres, one of which is due to be located in the Algarve next year.
The UK government has received £1.36bn from the Iceland bank Icesave.
The Treasury says it now has 85% of the money the UK paid out in compensation to those savers who lost money with the bank went bust in 2008.
The powerful European Banking Authority has revealed further information supplied by the Bank of Portugal on whether measures had been taken to detect or halt money laundering at BES Angola.
According to the European Banking Authority, following an interim forensic audit report on Banco Espírito Santo, offences were highlighted in October 2014 involving, among other things, the relationship between Banco Espírito Santo and its Angolan subsidiary, "including inadequate procedures in terms of money laundering prevention."
Sales in the UK on Black Friday had a “significant impact”, particularly for department stores, according to the ONS.
Retail sales soared to their strongest annual pace in more than a decade. Volumes rose by 1.6% in November compared with October while economists had predicted only 0.4%.
Espírito Santo's Ricardo Salgado has been noted on the BBC website as the winner of the Worst Chief Executive Officer in 2014 award, in a list released today that highlights those who have destroyed shareholder value with dedication or just sheer stupidity despite earlier successes.
"The worst CEO of the year is the leader of the Salgado family of Portugal," states the news item on the BBC website, pointing out that Ricardo Salgado was the "head of an interconnected and complex set of entities that controlled the second largest bank in Portugal - and which he then led into bankruptcy '.
The average hourly cost of labour in the eurozone, excluding agriculture and public administration, stood at €29.30 last year.
But there are significant differences among member states, starting at the €3.40 in Bulgaria to the top level of €40.10 in Denmark.
Today 70% of people in Portugal use the internet, up from only 40% in 2006.
Half of all those who use it say that they do so every day whereas only 22% of users did so eight years ago.
Chinese officials are preparing a major crackdown on the gambling casinos of Macau.
From a quiet Portuguese colony, Macau has transformed itself into the world’s most lucrative gambling market with revenues counted in the billions.
