On July 30, Maia-based Sonae reported first-half 2026 results that read like a textbook conglomerate print: consolidated turnover of €5.6 billion, up 6.3% year on year, underlying EBITDA up 13% to €536 million, and net profit up 20.5% to €123 million. But for corridor readers, the most important number sits further down the divisional table: Musti, the Helsinki-headquartered pet-care platform Sonae took control of in 2024, generated €277 million in turnover, up 14.7% — making it the fastest-growing retail business the Portuguese group owns.
That growth rate is not a rounding story. It beats Sonae’s food, health and beauty engine MC (+7.9% to €4.4 billion), electronics chain Worten (+7% to €681 million) and even the fast-expanding Wells and Druni health-and-beauty perimeter (+12.3% to €906 million). The Nordic bet, in other words, is outgrowing the Portuguese core.
A strong quarter across the portfolio
The second quarter itself came in at €2.9 billion of turnover (+5.6%) with underlying EBITDA of €281 million (+10.2%) and a margin of 9.9%, up from 9.5% a year earlier. “I am pleased to share that Sonae achieved very positive results in the second quarter of 2026, continuing the favourable momentum of recent months and once again reinforcing the strength of our portfolio,” said CEO Cláudia Azevedo, crediting “operational discipline and consistent strategic execution.”
Continente gained grocery market share to just above 37%, Worten’s online shop reached roughly 20% of turnover, and the group lifted operating investment 7% to €516 million over the trailing twelve months. Telecoms associate NOS held steady at €458 million of second-quarter turnover.
Musti: the Nordic platform keeps compounding
Musti’s half-year confirms the trajectory NorthSouth HQ has tracked all year: first-quarter net sales of €138.5 million (+15.6%) with Norway up 25.5%, followed by a second quarter that kept the platform’s growth in the mid-teens. Alongside the results, Sonae confirmed that Musti plans to acquire three Gaston stores through a deal with ICA in Sweden — the transaction first reported in July, which folds the Swedish grocer’s pet-store experiment into the Arken Zoo owner’s network.
Musti operates the largest specialist pet-care footprint in the Nordics — Finland, Sweden and Norway — and its integration into Sonae’s retail machine has so far run through procurement, private label and store-format know-how rather than rebranding. The result is a rare corridor structure: a Portuguese family-anchored group running a category-leading Nordic retailer, and reporting it every quarter in Lisbon.
Why this matters for the corridor
Portuguese capital operating at scale in the Nordics remains the exception, not the rule — which is precisely why Musti’s divisional line matters. It is the clearest quarterly proof that a Portuguese owner can buy, hold and grow a Nordic consumer platform: same-store momentum, bolt-on acquisitions in Sweden, and double-digit growth two years into ownership. For Portuguese mid-caps weighing Nordic M&A, Sonae’s pet-care experiment is turning into the corridor’s reference case.
What to watch next
Three markers for the second half: completion of the ICA-Gaston store transfer in Sweden; whether Musti’s margin recovers as investment spending normalises — management has accepted near-term margin pressure to fund expansion; and whether Sonae’s full-year report keeps Musti ahead of MC on growth. A second consecutive year of mid-teens Nordic growth would make the 2024 acquisition one of the best-timed Portuguese deals of the decade.