Grupo SBF, the parent of Brazil’s top retail sporting goods chain in Centauro and a distributor of Nike in the South American market since December, reported a 401 percent increase in first-quarter adjusted Ebitda to 185,390,000 Brazilian reais (€31.5m) for the period ended March 31. Operating income came in at 6.9 percent against a year-ago operating loss. Total revenues increased by 59 percent to BRL $1,633,108,000 (€277.8m) from BRL $1,026,470,000. Period net income was BRL $30,097,000 (€5.1m) compared to a loss of BRL $28,059,000.
Centauro retail segment results benefitted from the opening of 20 stores and the renovation of 17 others since the year-ago period and Grupo’s decision to add omnichannel marketplace inventory into its brick-and-mortar assortments. The extended inventory represented 7.5 percent of store sales during the period. Overall Centauro revenues rose by 40 percent to BRL $844,451,000 (€143.6m) with store sales up by 45 percent at BRL $614,984,000 (€104.6m) and digital sales 26.6 percent higher at BRL $229,467,000 (€39.0m).
Meanwhile, the Nike Fisia distribution business generated an 81.6 percent gain in first-quarter revenues to BRL $895,061,000 (€152.3m) with wholesale up 70 percent to BRL $470,499,000 (€143.6m); digital sales (nike.com.br) increased 120 percent to BRL $276,918,000 (€47.1m), and Nike Value Store sales produced a 63 percent gain to BRL $147,644,000 (€25.1m). Segment results were driven by numerous factors, including strategic channel prioritization and marketing investment optimization. The Value Stores, which reported a 55 percent increase in same-store sales, also benefitted from processes implemented by Grupo SBF throughout 2021 and price increases that were taken to offset exchange rate impacts since the acquisition.
The company’s quarterly gross margin improved 3.3 percentage points to 46.2 percent as Centauro’s gross margin reached 48.5 percent on year-over-year improvement from a 2021 promotional retail environment.
