Superdeporte S.A. (Marathon Sports)

What it is

Marathon Sports is Ecuador’s leading sporting-goods chain, founded in Quito in 1980 and the country’s dominant kit supplier — including, since 1994, the Ecuadorian national football team. The company produces, imports and distributes sportswear, footwear and accessories, selling through more than 140 stores in Ecuador under banners including Marathon Sports, Marathon Outlet, Explorer, The Athlete’s Foot, Teleshop, Puma and Under Armour.

The Marathon brand holds roughly 60% of the Ecuadorian sports-retail market, well ahead of Adidas at 10% and Nike at 5%. Beyond Ecuador, the group also operates in Peru, Bolivia and Chile.

Who owns it

In April 2024, the Panama-registered firm Todoplay S.A. bought shares worth USD 33.5 m from Allegro Ecuador and a further USD 310,000 from Xavier Ribadeneira, lifting its stake to 85.14% of Superdeporte’s subscribed capital of USD 39.76 m. Two Ecuadorian public-sector institutions — the teachers’ severance fund (Fondo de Cesantía del Magisterio) and the social-security bank BIESS — hold minority positions.

In April 2025, the Mexican retail group Innovasport announced it had acquired Marathon Sports, according to a statement by its CEO Francisco Martín. The transaction has not yet disclosed the percentage of shares transferred or the total price paid.

Who runs it

Fausto Fernando Corral Jiménez serves as Gerente General (CEO), as confirmed in filings signed on the Bolsa de Valores de Guayaquil through late 2025 and early 2026. CFO and board chair names are not disclosed in available sources.

The money, in plain words

In 2023 — the most recent year with audited figures published by the Superintendencia de Compañías — Superdeporte recorded sales of USD 240.5 m. Sales then dipped to USD 226.41 m in 2024 before recovering to USD 234.33 m in 2025 — a gain of 3.5% year-on-year (our calculation), driven by stronger retail-channel volumes that represent nearly 89% of total revenue.

The company posted net losses in both 2024 and 2025, with net loss margins of −6.89% and −5.56% respectively. In plain terms, for every dollar of sales in 2025 it lost almost six cents after all costs and interest — a net loss of roughly USD 13 m on revenue of USD 234 m (our calculation).

The losses reflect heavy pressure from operating costs and interest payments, compounded by Ecuador’s difficult security environment and higher costs of doing business.

The balance sheet tells a tighter story still. Owners’ equity — the buffer between assets and debts — shrank to just 9.19% of total assets by end-2025, meaning creditors effectively own more than 90 cents of every dollar on the balance sheet.

Financial debt alone funded 42.96% of assets, and the leverage ratio — total liabilities divided by equity — reached 9.88 times (our calculation from the rating report). Despite those losses, Superdeporte has met every payment to bondholders on time, supported by the daily cash flows typical of a high-volume retailer.

What it is doing now

The defining move of the past year is the announced acquisition by Mexico’s Innovasport, whose CEO Francisco Martín confirmed the deal in April 2025 — though the exact price and stake have still not been made public. Ecuador’s competition regulator said in mid-2025 the transaction had not yet been formally notified to it for review.

In October 2024, Ecuador’s securities regulator approved Superdeporte’s tenth long-term bond issue, raising up to USD 6 m, which was fully placed with investors by January 2025. The company continues to roll short-term commercial paper through the Guayaquil and Quito stock exchanges to fund working capital, even as it navigates a period of negative net margins.

What to watch

• Innovasport deal finalisation: Until the price, stake and regulatory clearance are disclosed, the ownership picture is incomplete — and the deal could reshape the company’s strategy across five countries.
• Return to profit: Operating margins turned slightly positive in 2025 (+2.58%), but interest costs are consuming that surplus entirely. Watch whether revenue growth in 2026 is enough to cover financing costs.
• Leverage ceiling: At nearly 10× debt-to-equity, any revenue setback — Ecuador’s energy and security crises are unresolved — would test the covenant that limits financial debt to five times equity. A breach would trigger bondholder protections.
• World Cup cycle: The Qatar 2022 World Cup, where Ecuador’s participation drove USD 21.7 m in shirt sales alone, showed how powerful — and volatile — football events are to this business. Ecuador’s qualification for the 2026 World Cup would be a material positive catalyst.

This is news, not investment advice.