Covilhã, Portugal - November 22nd 2005

Sonae Sierra's new shopping and leisure centre in Covilhã

Serra Shopping opens tomorrow fully let

• An investment of €30,8 million
• 86 shops and 800 new jobs
• Local tenants take over 40% of the total GLA
• Environmentally certified construction work management
• Certified global access management system

Sonae Sierra inaugurates today, in Covilhã-Portugal, its new shopping and leisure centre: Serra Shopping. All the shops are already let, which proves the enormous expectations created in the region by the construction of this development.

Representing an investment of  €30,84 million, the new centre, which will open to the public tomorrow, November 23rd, creates 800 jobs and will be a major development for commerce and economic activities in the Beira Interior region.

Serra Shopping is based on the expansion project of the Modelo da Covilhã supermarket, and makes available a total of 86 shops, with a Gross Lettable Area (GLA) of 17.677 m2, which  include  the  presence  of  the  most  prestigious  national  and  international  brands, complementing the 37 local tenants that represent 40% of the centre's total GLA.

The  new  centre  will  have  six  anchor  shops  (Continente  Hypermarket,  Castello  Lopes Cinemas with four hi-tech theatres, Worten, Sportzone, Modalfa and Maxmat), 65 satellite shops  and  15 restaurants,  featuring  the  presence of  such  prestigious  brands  as  Oysho, Bershka, Pull&Bear, Gato Preto, Kiddys, Zippy, Salsa, Bata, Springfield, Lanidor, Perfumes e Companhia, Singer, Quebra Mar, Pizza Hut and Livraria Bertrand, among many others.

Featuring a parking lot with 912 spaces, 696 of which are indoors, the new shopping and leisure  centre  is  located  at  Quinta  do  Pinheiro,  Santa  Maria  parish,  and  has  excellent access roads available, including the A23, road 18 and the Europa Avenue (formerly the TCT-Teixoso-Canhoso-Tortosendo axis).

An estimated € 24,5 million in annual sales

The Serra Shopping is scheduled to welcome 4,1 million visits per year, an estimate based on a catchment area of about 109 thousand people 30 minutes away by car and about 37 thousand 10 minutes away.

These figures point to a revenue of about 24,5 million euros in the first year of activity, not including the hypermarket sales.

Guaranteed environmental quality, accessibility and safety

Abiding to Sonae Sierra's policy for all shopping and leisure centres, the Serra Shopping will also observe the most rigorous and demanding safety standards set by the company, namely in terms of comfort, safety, access and environmental protection.

In what  concerns  environmental  preservation,  Serra  Shopping  obtained,  during  its construction  stage,  the  ISO 14001  environmental  certification,  which  refers  to  the management of the construction process. Issued by the BVQI, this certification is the result of  the  implementation  of  the  best  practises  in  environmental  management  during construction, defined in the scope of Sonae Sierra's Environmental Management System, which  aims  at  minimizing  the  environmental  impacts  and  promoting  a  continuous improvement of our performance in this area.

The Serra Shopping boasts the most recent and sophisticated solutions in domains such as the separation and treatment of waste or water savings. The energy management and savings system is fully computerized (BMS - Building Management System).

Serra Shopping has  also a  certification for its global  accessibility management system, ensured by the UNE 170001-2:2001 standard, which concerns the good access of all visitors to all public areas, namely the ones with moving impairments.

In what concerns the safety of visitors and the building itself, the Serra Shopping will benefit  from  the  most  modern  support  systems,  such  as  the  automatic  fire  detection system  (SADI),  the  closed  circuit  television  surveillance  system  (CCTV),  the  automatic intruder  detection  system  (SAI),  the  portable  fire-fighting  network  (RIA)  or  the  access control system.

Sonae Sierra, www.sonaesierra.com, is an international shopping centre specialist, with a passion for bringing innovation and excitement to the shopping and leisure centre industry. The Company owns or co-owns 36 Shopping Centres, in Portugal, Spain, Italy, Greece and Brazil, with a total (GLA) of more than 1,5 million m2. Currently, Sonae Sierra is developing 14 more projects in Portugal, Spain, Italy, Germany Greece and Brazil, with a total GLA of more than 540.000 m2.