0-0, End of First Part

When the BCP General Meeting was announced some weeks back, I voted in the Jornal de Negócios on-line poll, suggesting that nobody's cause would win at the meeting. It wasn't a very popular choice. So I'd just like to say "Ha ha" to all the hawks and doves out there.

Admittedly, there will eventually be a winner. And with Paulo Teixeira Pinto in retreat even before the meeting started, it's not difficult to guess who will win. But yesterday only brought one casualty - the poor misguided IT manager whose system couldn't cope with registering all those shareholders.

And so the saga continues, leaving the second largest bank in Portugal paralysed when it comes to dealing with its larger customers. Fortunately the Board are not worried about profitability for now, with the record results announced for the first half. But it's not much fun being on the outside, waiting for the storm to blow over.