Grupo SBF S.A

What it is

Grupo SBF owns Centauro, the largest multi-brand sporting goods retailer in Latin America, selling footwear, clothing, and equipment through physical stores and online channels across Brazil. In 2020 it made a second, larger bet: acquiring Nike’s operations in Brazil and becoming Nike’s exclusive distributor in the country for ten years.

The group controls the Centauro, ByTennis, Almax Sports, and Studio 78 store chains, and holds the agreement with Nike to expand Nike Stores nationwide. It also organises races and sporting events under the Xterra and Uphill brands.

Who owns it

The Bomfim family — founder Sebastião Vicente Bomfim Filho, together with Larissa, Lucas, and Rizza Bomfim, and their holding vehicle Pacipar Participações — together hold roughly 40.9% of the company. Sebastião Bomfim Filho retains all political and economic rights over the Pacipar shares, meaning effective control remains firmly in his hands.

Institutional investors hold a further ~43% of the shares (per EODHD data), leaving a modest free float. Sebastião Vicente Filho, a separate individual shareholder and third-largest holder, also serves as Chairman of the Board.

Who runs it

In February 2025, long-serving CEO Pedro Zemel announced his departure to lead Zamp (McDonald’s Brazil), and was succeeded by Gustavo de Lima Furtado, then the group’s general manager, who took the chief executive chair in April 2025. José Luís Magalhães Salazar serves as CFO and Investor Relations Officer.

The company’s founder, Sebastião Vicente Bomfim Filho, opened the first Centauro store in Belo Horizonte in 1981 and remains the controlling force through Pacipar, though he stepped back from daily management when Zemel took over in 2016.

The money, in plain words

Sales have grown steadily — from R$6.99bn (~US$1.36bn) in 2023 to R$7.74bn (~US$1.50bn) in 2025, a rise of 10.7% over two years (our calculation) — but profit moved in the opposite direction in the most recent year. Net income fell from R$536m (~US$104m) in 2024 to R$328m (~US$64m) in 2025, compressing the net margin — the share of each real of sales kept as profit — to 4.2%, thin for a retailer of this scale (our calculation).

For every real shareholders own in the business, the company earns about 11 cents a year — a return on equity of 11.2%, adequate but below the 15–20% that Brazil’s cost of capital typically demands. The stock trades at just 7.0 times earnings (price-to-earnings ratio of 7.0×), which is cheap, but cheap numbers often reflect real risks: the company carries net debt of R$2.26bn (~US$438m), meaning it owes considerably more than the cash on its books (our calculation).

What it is doing now

In Q1 2026 Grupo SBF reported consolidated net revenue of R$1.785bn (US$346 mn), up 14.9% year-on-year, though that strong sales performance came alongside increased operating expenses and higher debt as the company prepared for the 2026 FIFA World Cup. The Fisia (Nike and Jordan) unit was the standout, growing net revenues 26.1% to R$1.0bn (US$194 mn) in the quarter.

The company accelerated its store modernisation programme, renovating 23 Centauro locations in the quarter, with twelve fully completed and reopened. On the critical question of the Nike partnership’s future, CEO Gustavo said the company is “confident in our partnership with Nike and aligned on future plans.”

What to watch

• The Nike contract. The exclusive-distributor deal runs for ten years from 2020. Its renewal terms will reshape either the company’s competitive position or its cost base — the single most consequential negotiation on the horizon.
• World Cup tailwind vs. hangover. Inventory levels are high, built up in anticipation of World Cup sales; strong sell-through is needed to avoid a costly stock overhang after the tournament.
• Margin recovery. Net margin dropped sharply from 7.5% in 2024 to 4.2% in 2025 (our calculation). Investors will watch whether the combination of revenue growth and cost discipline can restore profitability to prior levels.
• Currency pressure. A weaker Brazilian real lifts the cost of imported Nike goods, squeezing gross margins, though the company has partially offset this through tax incentives.
• Succession and governance. With a new CEO less than two years in and the founder’s family still firmly in control at ~41%, how Furtado stamps his own strategic mark — and how capital is allocated — will define the next chapter.

This is news, not investment advice.