BRAZIL · BUSINESS
Key Facts
- The company Grendene, maker of Melissa and Ipanema sandals, is based in Sobral, in Brazil’s Ceará state.
- The profit Third-quarter profit fell 12% to R$121.7 million (about US$22 million).
- The cause Exports fell 22% in pairs, while sales inside Brazil grew 3.6%.
- The payout A dividend of R$0.06 (about US$0.01) per share is due from Wednesday 9 December 2026.
- Prediction markets Polymarket betting platform gives 82.5% to no change at Brazil’s December rate decision (6 Nov, 1:10 a.m. ET).
- Power Index Brazil ranks 1st of 14 in The Rio Times Latin America Power Index, with 74.2 points (November 2026 edition).
A leading Brazilian footwear maker earned less this quarter, because far fewer pairs left the country. Grendene, the company behind the Melissa plastic shoes and the Ipanema, Rider and Zaxy sandal and sneaker brands, reported net profit of R$121.7 million (about US$22 million) for July to September 2026, down 12.1% from a year earlier.
For US readers, the report is a clean look at two Brazils at once: shoppers at home still buying more pairs, and foreign buyers ordering fewer. Our Brazil coverage also covers Ambev, the brewer and Multiplan, a mall owner.
What Happened
Grendene published its third-quarter results on Thursday 5 November 2026 from its base in Sobral, in the north-eastern state of Ceará. The company is listed on B3, Brazil’s stock exchange, under the ticker GRND3.
Net revenue slipped 2.4% to R$742.1 million (about US$135 million). Profit adjusted by the company to exclude one-off items fell 18.2% to R$151.0 million (about US$27 million).
Over the first nine months of 2026, net profit was R$313.3 million (about US$57 million), down 20.8%. All dollar figures here use 5.50 reais per US dollar, the rate quoted by RT, a financial-data provider, on 6 November 2026.
Why Exports Fell
Grendene shipped 5.8 million pairs abroad, 21.6% fewer than a year earlier. Export revenue dropped 18.8% to US$37.7 million, which the company said reflected weaker restocking and orders that distributors postponed in some markets.
Logistics problems in a few markets also slowed deliveries, the company said. Brazil’s whole footwear industry saw export revenue in dollars fall 10.9%, so Grendene lost ground: its share of all pairs Brazil exports slipped from 30.5% to 25.5%.
Brazilian Shoppers Still Buy
Inside Brazil, Grendene sold 30.0 million pairs, up 3.6%, led by Ipanema flip-flops and by women’s and men’s lines. Revenue from the home market still fell 1.8% to R$757.2 million (about US$138 million), because the average price per pair dropped 5.2%.
The company blames a tough mood among shoppers: jobs are steady, but high interest rates, debt and missed payments squeeze spending. Melissa sold 6.4% fewer pairs to retailers, while Grendene’s online sales in Brazil grew 10.7%.
Margins Shrank
Gross margin, the share of sales left after production costs, fell to 44.4% from 46.5%. The company’s adjusted operating profit slid 7.5% to R$109.0 million (about US$20 million).
Net financial income also fell 21.8%, to R$70.7 million (about US$13 million). Lower financial income, weaker exports and thinner margins all weighed on profit.
What Prediction Markets Say
Polymarket, a crypto-based trading platform, shows 82.5% for no change in Brazil’s main interest rate (the Selic) at the central bank’s December 2026 decision, with US$63,052 traded across all five outcomes (read 1:10 a.m. ET, 6 November). It gives 4.7% to a quarter-point cut and 2.3% to a quarter-point rise.
Why we show this: prediction markets turn real-money bets into a live probability that moves within minutes of the news, which is why investors, campaigns and newsrooms in the United States now follow them closely. We show them next to polls and official results, never instead of them.
What It Means for You
If you follow Brazilian consumer stocks, Grendene shows how high borrowing costs hold back everyday spending even with steady jobs. Bets on Polymarket imply that borrowing costs stay where they are at the December decision.
Importers of Brazilian shoes in the US should watch export volumes, which fell faster at Grendene than across the industry. Grendene’s pairs exported fell 21.6%, against 6% for Brazil’s footwear industry as a whole.
What Is Not Known
The company has not said when export orders will return, and it gave no sales forecast for the fourth quarter. It also did not name the markets where distributors postponed orders.
It is not known whether the lower export volumes were caused by trade rules or by weaker demand alone. The release points to restocking and logistics only.
Dividend and Dates
The board proposed a third advance dividend of R$54.1 million (about US$9.8 million), or R$0.06 per share. Shareholders on record at the close of Wednesday 11 November 2026 qualify, and shares trade without the dividend from Thursday 12 November.
Payment starts on Wednesday 9 December 2026. The company holds its results call on Friday 6 November at 8:30 a.m. ET.
More: Brazil news in English, every day from The Rio Times.
Frequently Asked Questions
What Does Grendene Make?
It makes Melissa, Ipanema, Rider, Zaxy and Cartago footwear in Brazil. The company is based in Sobral and listed on B3 as GRND3.
How Much Profit Did Grendene Make?
Net profit was R$121.7 million (about US$22 million) in the third quarter of 2026, down 12.1%. Adjusted for one-off items it was R$151.0 million (about US$27 million), down 18.2%.
Why Did Grendene Profit Fall?
Exports fell 21.6% in pairs and gross margin shrank to 44.4%. Lower net financial income also cut profit.
When Is the Grendene Dividend Paid?
Payment starts on Wednesday 9 December 2026, at R$0.06 (about US$0.01) per share. Holders on record at the close of 11 November qualify.
Sources: Grendene, press release 3Q26 and 9M26, 5 November 2026; Polymarket, market on the Brazil central bank’s December decision, 6 November 2026; RT, USD/BRL rate, 6 November 2026.
Editorial responsibility: Matthias Camenzind, Editor-in-Chief · Editorial standards · Report an error
Brazil runoff, Sunday, October 25: When is the Brazil runoff election. Latest: Brazil runoff polls, Flávio 51%, Lula 49%.