Good morning to everyone. Welcome to the results call for the Grupo SBF for the fourth quarter and full year of 2024. I'm Pedro and I'm here with Luna, Victoria and Salazar, who is always together with me here on these calls. Also with Gustavo Furtado, who will assume within the next few weeks as the CEO of the Grupo SBF. In this call, he'll still be part of our process of transition. He's listening in. I know that he's anxious to hear more from him, but on this call, it'll still be me who will conduct it and answer your questions. Starting with the next call, the ball will be with Gustavo. We are going to continue the routine as usual. I'm going to start with a few highlights, our results.
I'm going to pass it over to Salazar to give a little bit of the results from the fourth quarter, and then we'll open up for a Q&A, and Salazar and myself will answer the questions. At the end, we'll close the usual closing, especially for me. It will be my last call as President of the group. We'll close and say goodbye and pass along the baton to Gustavo. Okay? Starting our principal messages, our reading of the results of the fourth quarter of 2024. The results were very good. We proposed for a few quarters, as was well known, as you followed along on these calls several times, that the group would focus on two principal metrics: cash generation and we're very proud of what was delivered in these quarters and in the year of 2024 and these two metrics.
In net profit, we reached BRL 418 million. We represented a growth of 82% compared to 2023. We have a perspective for the year since the IPO in 2019, an annual growth, a figure of more than 22%, 22.6%. Good results for the year, and once again showing the capacity of the company to present growth in earnings well above the average. These results were due to our declared strategy of focusing on the growth of gross profit. Here we have two directions to deliver this profit. One, deleveraging. I'm going to talk about that a little bit. And the growth of EBITDA. EBITDA grew by 27% to come back to a two-digit margin compared to the margin of last year. The growth of EBITDA was due to the strategic decision to grow in gross profit.
I think you all remember that 2023 was a year in which we historically gave a lot of discounts to adjust our stocks, our inventories, and compared to the year in which the gross margin was hurt, several units were then positively impacted by that strategy. 2024 was the year for gross profit. We're very content with results. When we look at it, it's evident that this has an impact on revenue, as was anticipated. The gross profit grew to an expansion of gross margins of 2% compared to 2023. Our gross margin got up to 49.2%. We closed the year, this recomposition of margins after 2023. We brought the company with this talks about our EBITDA. We also talked about the net profit, which was impacted by the deleveraging that we had.
We were also able to include this process in a very efficient way, even more quickly than we anticipated. We reached at a moment of 3.3 x EBITDA, and we closed 2024 with 0.38% of EBITDA. We continue being very efficient in the management of our working capital management. Our days of stock have fallen as we had planned, from 180 days to 168 days in 2024. Our inventories, some highlights, and afterwards, I'll open this up a little more, but Centauro got to sales of BRL 4.4 billion this year and had excellent results. BRL 4.5 billion headed up by Gustavo, growing revenue at the same time in which it expanded its gross margin, which is a huge challenge. The gross margin of Centauro was a record. It got to 50% for the year. Even so, revenue grew by 4.4%. Fisia got to BRL 5.1 billion in revenue.
The company, it's a little bit of intercompany, a little bit of intercompany, but it was with growth, it was flat. Compared to 2023, Fisia was the company which was most impacted by the discounts in 2023. The revenue was flat, but the margin went up by 2.1%, and it's the highest gross margin that we've had in this operation since it's been managed by the SBF Group, reaching 43.7%. From the standpoint of omnichannel operational, through 2024, was growing in our omnichannel offering and the possibility of connecting to the sellers of Centauro. We also activated 100% of our exchanges in e-commerce, whether they be through consumer-bought product ordered from Centauro or from a seller, they can be exchanged in our stores.
This project was very successful, both from the perspective of the consumer, to be able to resolve a problem of exchange, which brings him in the most convenient way from the standpoint of the financial standpoint, whether it be to a more efficient freight or freight purchase, which in general, in this exchange, is reflected in 70% of the cases in exchange for a product more expensive than that which was originally purchased. Closing this cycle in this year of 2024, more efficient, more profitable, and with a capital structure quite convenient for the moment in which Brazil is, which we believe will be adequate for a retail company in Brazil.
This also results, also works as a basis for the company to continue evolving and taking the next steps in sustainable growth, always with a model of discipline and resilience that the company has always had in its 43 years of history, to take advantage of the opportunities in the Brazilian market. Highlights here, it's on the big numbers. I mentioned a few of them, but I'm going to reinforce them here. Again, when we look at the net revenue, I had talked about gross revenue of BRL 7.3 billion, growth of 2.3% compared to 2023, gross margin growing by two points.
This growth of revenue grew by two points, which is a growth in net revenue of gross revenue of 6.7%, which was the main driver, which we had 6.8% in the fourth quarter and a little bit more than 6.0, 6.1 for the entire year of 2024, for the full year. The EBITDA margin passed two digits, double digits, and resulted in a growth of 27% for BRL 772 million of EBITDA, 27.3%. Also, the leverage is 0.38 compared to our peak leverage in June of 2023, when we had 3.1 times EBITDA compared to the fourth quarter of 2023, looking at the equivalent seasonality, fell by 0.31%. We had BRL 1 billion in cash on hand, with no anticipation of receivables, BRL 236 million, very solid numbers. Please, next slide.
Here we're looking at the since the IPO, this is the 38th call, results call that we've done, 34th call that we've done since we opened our capital. This shows how we always compare year on year. A basis of comparison sometimes can be can emphasize some element. I think we've been able to look at the results in detail, but we also step back and look at the history of this company to see the possibilities that the SBF Group has going forward and how it has taken advantage of these possibilities over time. As you can see, this is a company that grows and grows a lot. We have a CAGR since 2019 of 23%.
It's evident that anybody that opened up here, the Fisia operation, where we've been able to grow, double the operation of Fisia, and Centauro growing at a double-digit CAGR as well over this period. This was done with discipline, margin discipline, looking at the gross profit is equivalent to revenue. It wasn't at the cost of margins that we grew. We had growth with quality, showing that the EBITDA went to BRL 330 million, more than double in that period. The net profit to BRL 418 million, from BRL 150 million to BRL 418 million. The longest trajectory of the company shows our potential and helps us to think about the possibilities, future possibilities that the SBF Group could have. Going now into looking at the numbers, a little bit of highlights for each one of the units, the business units, starting off with Centauro.
Centauro in the fourth quarter grew by 3.2% versus going to BRL 1.1 billion compared to with the same store sales of 6.6%. Dealt with an expansion of gross margin of one, has resilience to grow, even at the moment in which the gross margin is expanding. The digital, which was an operation which was very well run in terms of profitability during the year, during last year, is now in this year, take advantage of a growth phase, and it grew in the fourth quarter 19.8%. I think it had a very good, strong performance, very positive performance.
Here we look at stores, the major highlight was the coupon, items per coupon, items per coupon per ticket, was intentional for the company, especially trying to take advantage of items, baskets which had sneakers, and also have another category added to that basket, which was the capacity of the company to take advantage of the flow and the moment and work with these clients to impulse, to push sales. The omnichannel, the strength of our omnichannel, here's that we have the numbers to back it up. More than 50% of the exchange products were done in the stores, and 78% of these credits utilized were at amounts higher than the original purchase. Centauro continues its focus on sales per meter, and delivered a great deal of profitability and quality in the third quarter.
Fisia, as I commented, was more impacted in 2023 by our discounts, and this adjustment was an expansion of gross margin. On the other side, a higher impact on the elasticity in the revenue. The net revenue of Fisia grew by 0.4% due to an expansion of margin of 2.3 percentage points. The gross profit, which was 5.4%, which is our main variable. Putting this in perspective, this growth of revenue, again, the basis of comparison is a base. Two perspectives that we'd like to offer. First, the growth of gross profit, which neutralizes a little bit this impact. The second, to see the capacity of growth that we have in Brazil, just taking a picture of when the fourth quarter of 2023 compared to 2024, and we isolate the effect of the fluctuation of margins, first going down and going up.
When we look at this photo, the growth of Fisia from 2024 versus the fourth quarter of 2022 was 26.2%, which is 0.4%. In Fisia, in the digital channel, 8% of the exchanges were done in the store. The test we're doing, but I think that it was a journey that we're going to continue with. We point out the reduction of debt of our stock to 14 days on our stock to 42 days compared to the third quarter of 2024. We're very happy with the consistency of these results. I think the result has come, has come in our profit and our cash generation, and it comes in the way that we proposed. This leaves me quite content and confident. I am going to pass this over to Salazar to go into more detail about our results, talking about our fourth quarter.
I'll be back for the questions and answers for the Q&A. Salazar?
Thank you, Pedro. Good afternoon. Actually, at the time my camera's turned off, I'm just trying to correct this little problem here, a little technical issue. Before anything else, I want to look at the results. As Pedro mentioned, the last call, results call that he is participating with us here. We wanted to thank him. It's been a pleasure and a great deal of pride to share with him this stage with him during recent years with you all. I think the work that you've done was very gratifying, and with good results. Thank you very much for that partnership. Speaking about the group and looking into a little more detail.
The first point here in the net revenue and the gross profit, we see the consistent growth since the fourth quarter of 2019 with a CAGR of 16.9%, with a very important consistency in the delivery of this growth and of these results, and also showing specifically in the last quarter of 2024 that even though we have a basis of comparison. I thought I had resolved my problem with the camera, trying to work out a little technical difficulty there with this camera. Someone will continue without the camera. There seems to be some issue there, some technical problem here, but coming back here, even at a base of comparison, a very strong base of comparison in the fourth quarter, in terms of revenue relative to the promotional operations that we did last year.
Even though we were able to regain our gross margin, both in Fisia as well as in Centauro, we still presented growth in both. This shows the resilience of the brand, both Nike as well as all the other brands that we sell in our multi-brand channel, which is Centauro. On the other hand, we grew. We came from a moment of large discounts last year, and we have been systematically recovering our gross margins since the beginning of the year of 2024, finalizing with the highest gross margin that we've had since we started working together with Fisia. In relation to the last quarter of last year, growth of 2 percentage points both in our gross margin was generated. They generate a gross margin which grew by 6% quarter over quarter, 6.8% quarter over quarter.
Our strategy of growth, disciplined, and responsible growth has worked, and we recovered part. We were able to increase the profitability, even though we've had growth in revenue, which was lower. With the recovery of prices and the removal of these discounts, we've been able to grow our gross profit due to this recovery, which is very healthy in gross margins, which we believe we have reached our full objective for 2024. The operational expenses are under control. We have a very important work, which has begun in the second semester of 2023, which generated fruits during 2024 as a whole. We had, specifically, in the second semester of 2024, second half of 2024, small growth in expenses due to the provisioning of the bonus for the SBF Group, all the employees of the SBF Group.
Since, as we have said to the market ahead of time, in 2023, we had results that were below that which we expected. Therefore, the provisioning of bonus was also below that which was expected in 2024, especially starting in the second half of 2024. Since the perspective of results that were better than that which we had in our budget, we started beginning in the second half of 2023 to provision these bonuses, reflecting these results in a way that would be to create a curve for the provisioning of this bonus over these quarters due to the results, which was already showing itself to be higher than we had imagined at the beginning of the year. Taking away this specific question, the expenses are absolutely under control. I think it is also a very strong effort of control of expenses done during 2024.
This was reflected of gross profit. Expense control was reflected in an improvement of the EBITDA margin, which went from 9.9% in the fourth quarter to 10.9% in the fourth quarter of 2024. For the full year, an improvement of 2.1 percentage points went from 8.7% in 2023 to 10.8% in 2024. We have been able to, through the recovery, which is very strong of gross margin and control of expenses, improve the EBITDA margin of the company. We were very much impacted by the measures that we took. We are now adding two important factors, the first being we worked quite a bit for cash generation in the company, reducing the debt level of the company. With the reduction of this indebtedness, we paid less expenses, less financial expense, which was an important point.
The second point, we worked very strongly on the part of the effective after-tax profit of the company. After several activities, most notably in this recent quarter, the interest on capital for SBF Comércio, we were able to optimize the effective profit of the company. Putting all these factors together, we were able to improve during the year the gross margin, the net margin of the company in 2.6 percentage points, reaching a level of 5.8% of net profit. Cash flow was very positive. Obviously, we generated BRL 231 million in cash flow compared to last year. In the fourth quarter of last year, we took advantage of the seasonality of our business to be able to sell our inventory, our excess inventory.
This year, since we started the year in 2024 with less inventory than we had at the beginning of the fourth quarter of 2024, we were able to recompose our margins. Even recomposing our margin, the cash generation was positive. We generated BRL 231 million in the fourth quarter of 2024. We see this reflection in this generation. Cash generation helped by the working capital. We saw the financial cycle improving by eight days in relation to the previous quarter, making 212 days. We saw the stock also reducing our inventories, and we also had a behavior of inventory in Fisia closer to the reality that we want to have for that company and for Centauro separating this possible better recovery during 2025. We see the PMP stabilizing, starting from the moment in which we come back and return to purchasing, the residency cycle of purchases.
Part of this was done in sales last year. Part of this was done with the reduction of purchases. Starting with the moment that you readjust these purchases, you start to get back to an original level or structure of accounts payable of the company. Also, in the accounts receivable, we've done a very important starting with this quarter last year, and now it's a very fine symphony. Some specific stores, we have to extend a little bit more the receivable period for receivables. Certain campaigns have to give a little bit longer terms for receivables, but nothing that changes structurally the working capital, structure of our working capital. Our working capital is very interesting.
When you put the operating results of the company with the reduction of the level of debt, improvement in the structuring of working capital of the company, we see a deleveraging, a huge deleveraging. We leave from almost eight times year on year, differently from the previous years. When we normally, starting in the second quarter, you have an increase in your leverage. At the end of 2023 and during 2024, we had a leverage curve which was declining quarter after quarter. We had a first quarter with 1.33, by the third quarter with 78, and then we finished with the greatest quarter for the generation of cash, so 0.38 times EBITDA. We see the situation very, very comfortable of leverage with this scenario of high interest rates. We are practically without debt, practically debt-free, and this is very good at this moment.
It's very difficult with the very difficult interest rates in Brazil. It also permits the company to be prepared for a phase of growth in which the company, whenever the company is ready to grow. I think we have a very good capital structure. We have our margins in line, have been recovered our margins, and we are with a debt profile which is absolutely tranquil, which permits us to go into this next cycle with a great deal of tranquility. As Pedro mentioned, it was a positive year for the company with all of our strategic objectives. We had a 30-month plan. We reached all of the objectives of that plan with a positive highlight, reinforcing the point which Pedro mentioned, which was the deleveraging happened more quickly than we imagined. We reached this level of leverage which we expected for the end of 2025.
We finished at the end of 2024. This opens up the greater flexibility for the company. I think that's it. Now we can go to any Q&A, any questions you might have.
We'll now begin this question and answer session. To make a question, please click on raise hand. If your question was answered, you can leave the line clicking on lower hand. Our first question comes from Vinícius Strano from UBS. Please go ahead.
[Foreign language] Good morning, everybody. Thank you for taking my question. Congratulations for the conclusion of your cycle there at SBF. I think cash generation came better than it was helped by working capital. I want to see if you could comment.
What do you see in terms of opportunities for the generation of capital going forward, both in the question of inventories as well as suppliers? If you also could comment a bit, how do you see the question of monetization of your tax credits? If you could comment on the levels of inventories, levels of markdown in Fisia compared to the historical levels. Do you think that you have found the correct level? If you could also comment on how the effects of exchange rates on the more higher effect of exchange rates on Fisia.
I'm going to divide the camera with Salazar since he's not working at the moment. [Foreign language] Very well. [Foreign Language] . Thank you for the question. I just said I'm going to share the camera here with Salazar, who's having a bit of a technical difficulty.
I wanted to try and answer Vinícius' first question, cash generation, working capital. We think that we still have work to do, structural work, which can be done in Fisia. Historically, we have a deal that Fisia has to have 30 days of inventory more than Centauro. This differential is done due to the question of the larger volume of imported goods and products that are still on board ships coming from overseas. We have still not reached that difference of 30 days. If I'm not mistaken, we were working with 20 days of difference, and we still have this work to do to continue to improve our inventory. The second question was related to gross margin. We think, yes, the big challenge that was already met, we're able to go forward. We're going to be able to have some timely adjustments.
Looking for the optimization of this gross margin, but that big push for discounts which we had given, which we had to recover, we think that we have now been successful in that operation in relation to the monetization of tax credits. We're going to continue in this rhythm of 2024. In the old days, the operation of Fisia generated a lot of credit, ICMS credits, due to the way in which Fisia had been operated previously prior to the acquisition by Grupo SBF. Starting from the moment in which we developed the importation channel, we passed starting to take care of all of this importation ourselves and do it in Minas Gerais in a dry port, we were able to unlock a lot of this. We no longer accumulated these credits, and in fact, they have begun to consume these credits.
I believe that we have this vision that this consumption of credits will continue due to these changes which we've done, these operational changes. In relation to the fourth question, and I think taking advantage here because it's a question also similar to Victor's question, take advantage and answer his question at the same time, which I'm looking at the text. The reaction to our exchange rates, as we see in recent moments with the market, we have been commenting that we have a plan, a historical plan, to continue to use fiscal incentives for Fisia, the same incentives that we had in Centauro. At the beginning when we bought Fisia, we were able to get some fiscal incentives from the bonus. When we migrated to the SAPs, we were able to get an incentive from the importation channels.
We only lacked two incentives, fiscal incentives for us to be able to. They were one for stores and the incentive for the wholesale. To get these incentives, these fiscal incentives, we had to have our own distribution center, which was concluded last year, which came from our logistics partner, and we internalized that operation. Starting with this condition, it was important for us to have this DC, this DC. We started to work in the obtaining of these two fiscal incentives, which we basically started working on at the end of last year. They will be gradual. The first will come in. The entry to them is gradual. First, we get the incentives for physical stores, and then we get the incentive for the wholesale.
When we initiated this journey to try and get these synergies also for Fisia, we imagined at the beginning that we'd be generating extra profitability for Fisia, and that it would impact positively her results. However, the fact is that due to the changes in exchange rate during 2024, the entrance of this fiscal incentive will only compensate the exchange rate losses almost totally. The effects of the exchange rates that we had in Fisia for 2025, due to the fast rise of the exchange rates in 2024, is coming in gradually, this effect. In the first quarter, it will be coming as we have impact of the exchange rate. In the first quarter, for example, of 2025, we practically did not have any fiscal incentives, but we also had no impact from the exchange rates.
Starting the second quarter, as the exchange rate impact is higher, we came in with the physical stores credits. In the third and fourth quarter, when we in fact had the highest impact of exchange rates with the run-up of the exchange rates at the end of last year, we started to see the impact of these incentives in the wholesale world. Not that we almost by coincidence, we calibrated the entrance of these fiscal incentives exactly at the same time to annul the effect of the exchange rate variations. Like a very long answer for an important point. We do not imagine big impacts in profitability in Fisia due to the exchange rates. Why? Because this effect of the exchange rates will be compensated by the entry of these new fiscal incentives.
Having said that, it's important to say that in the P&L of the company, there will be two effects. The first effect is in our gross margin, where the effect of the fiscal incentives will not compensate completely the effects of the exchange rates, the impact of exchange rates. I have an add-on in the gross margin due to exchange rates, and I have a growth in these expenses due to the incentives, fiscal incentives, but one does not completely compensate the other. Therefore, when you go to the net profit with the fiscal incentives not taxable, I have an improvement in my fiscal incentive, which is not taxable. I had a gross margin which previously was taxable. We look at these two effects together, a small followed up by an effective rate in the net profit of the company.
We have this compensation practically totally on the impact of the exchange rates. This is, as I said previously, the first quarter. In the second quarter, I have a small impact with the entrance of the fiscal incentives. First quarter, no impact. Second quarter with the physical stores. In the third quarter, we're going to have the physical store incentives and the wholesale incentives. I am very comfortable about this entrance. It's a migration, as always. We've already done this before. In March now, we're at the end of March, we'll already start to see a little bit of the effect of these fiscal incentives, the physical stores incentive, which will compensate the effect principally in the second quarter. In the fourth quarter, we will finish this phase of the migration to physical stores.
Over the second half of the year, we're going to have the migration to wholesale incentives. We start in the third quarter of 2025, we start to capture these full incentives. Vinícius, I think that I answered everything. Tell me if there's anything missing.
Very good. Thank you. That was very clear. Thank you, Salazar.
[Foreign language] The next question comes from Irma Sgarz, from Goldman Sachs. Irma, please.
[Foreign language] Good morning, and thank you for taking my question. Pedro, congratulations for finishing this cycle and good luck in your new challenges. We'll be missing you here, but I think the company is in good hands.
Talking a little bit about the comment that one of you, perhaps with Salazar, who made potencial [Foreign language] , could you design a little bit, tell us a little bit how we should think about this growth? [Foreign language] , but also a little bit for Fisia for this year. What do you see currently at this moment for the consumer and also in the availability? [Foreign language] the wholesale to make stock, to build stocks up and stock up and plan? Exactly, obviously, I'm asking about the effects that you're going to pass through, but more for the effects, the macro effects of higher interest rates in some parts of the portfolio, which are more exposed and others which are perhaps less exposed to interest rate hikes.
If you could explain a little bit how you plan your planning cycles for inventories, which are always a little bit longer, but also we see this preoccupation about difficulties to see the future in Brazil. I am just curious to see what you are thinking about this year.
Thank you, Irma, for the question and for the partnership. We will pass it over to Salazar.
Okay. Can you hear me, Irma? Okay. I think that when I wanted to say about the perspectives of growth for Centauro in 2025, I was not talking specifically about the year of 2025. I was saying that the company is ready for a growth spurt, and we believe that the opportunities for growth continue to exist.
We're going to do a very strong work to increase the gross profit of the company, the optimization, the maximization as much as possible, maximization of same-store sales. We have a lot of work that's being done by Gustavo in that area. Actually, we haven't yet begun to collect all of the fruits of this work which is being done. He took over Centauro in 2023. He worked almost the entire year of 2024 up until the second half of this year. We believe that many of the things which are being done will help us during 2025. Looking at the type of growth, if you look at, as I mentioned, the company is now unlocked and ready to grow. We're ready to continue with lots of possibilities. We believe that we're in a market which is favorable. The sporting goods market is large, huge.
We have space for growth, both Fisia and Centauro, and we believe that we have a capital structure correct, capital structure which permit us to do that. Going back to your question in relation to macro, I think that we've taken this care in 2025 specifically when we went out purchasing for 2025. Normally, these purchases are made one year ahead of time. We were still investing based on our plan of being very cautious in terms of growth. These purchases were done in a scenario in which we were able to guarantee these sales. We're not optimistic to the point where we thought that because now that we have our capital, we would be with our capital structure lined up, that we can now take more risks.
In the macro scenario in Brazil, especially in terms of interest rates, it would be contradictory to be able to work with leverage to get down to a capital structure and at the same time imagining that because we would pass through this interest rate. We are planning for a scenario of growth, macro scenario stronger. I would say that maybe in our vision, we have looked at a scenario which is very safe and secure in a way that we do not imagine any type of adjustment that we would have to do in 2025 due to excessive optimism when we did the planning in 2024.
We already did a planning which was relatively safe and responsible, perhaps a little bit bolder than the planning which was done for 2024, but nothing which would cause us to run the risk of finishing up with leftover stock or to have to offer discounts. We have a capital structure which is lined up, is adequate. Our purchasing and inventory is adequate for 2025 and with a very good flexibility and opportunities for growth that we see beyond 2025. I'm not sure if I answered your question.
No, it was very clear. Thank you. Perhaps any comment about the wholesale channel for Fisia?
Okay. I forgot that any wholesale channel we see in a way that is, we look at it cautiously in the sense that we believe in a stronger recovery in the wholesale, especially in the second half of the year.
We understand that it's part of the economics we've had in our channels. Very strong in Fisia. In a certain way, this impacts the wholesale channel. We have an exchange share from wholesale to retail, which is good for the company, but also the wholesale channel was affected directly by our discounts, by the discounts that Fisia did to be able to reduce its level of inventories. This channel takes time, perhaps to gain the confidence that is necessary to buy when we look at the possibility of losing money if these discounts have to be continued. I think that during 2024, with all of this recovery of gross margins that we've had, that we showed through that channel, that we're not concerned that the discounts will continue.
Starting possibly during the second half of last year, wholesale began to prepare for the second half of 2025. That's why this normalization happens over the year of 2025, notably in the second half of 2025.
Very well, thank you.
[Foreign language] The next question comes from Victor Rogatis from Itaú BBA. Victor, please go ahead. [Foreign language] . Victor, please continue with your question. Your microphone is on. [Foreign language] Victor, please go ahead with your question. [Foreign language] . Our next question comes from Eric Huang of Santander. Eric, please go ahead.
Good morning. Thank you for taking our questions. Congratulations for the conclusion of your cycle there with the company.
I think pulling up on the side of the questions, one that we perhaps is a bit of a follow-up, especially looking at the growth and expansion having in mind this important change that you've done during 2024. Please just tell us how do you see this year, depending on how this year behaves, what would be the eventual triggers to see some acceleration, whether in the opening of Centauro or Fisia, especially looking at the side of renewals, perhaps part of legacy stores from Centauro and more formatting for the look at how we look at the company in this context.
Finalizing one question, you mentioned a bit the year 2024 has focus between the exchanges in the stores, and we can start looking at 2025, which will look at this operational side, talking a little bit more about the strategic focus that we'll be able to accompany. You're also going to be speaking with a little more recurrence?
Thank you, Eric. I'm going to pass it back over to Salazar.
[Foreign language] , Eric, I think that perspectives of growth for the company, this trigger that you mentioned, I think that in a certain way this has been reached. [Foreign language] the company to be able to balance its growth into a faster growth, a higher growth rate, exactly due to the question of the capital structure. I think it would be difficult for us to go into a strong expansion phase with the structure of capital which was not adequate and also with profitability below that which we would like to have.
I think Pedro talked a lot about in recent years, especially in his last two years, the compatibility of the growth of net revenue with the growth in revenue that we want to have. I think now in 2024, we have a certain compatibility between these two indicators. We have a base, a good base to go back to growing again and also together with the capital structure which permits us to have this kind of growth. I think that in relation to opportunities, I'm going to talk a little bit here, a little bit about opportunities that are relatively more comfortable, more tranquil, that won't be constantly tested. These are questions that have already been tested.
We think that both Centauro as well as Fisia have the potential for opening more stores, especially in the model of Centauro, of the Centauro stores, and in the NVS model of Fisia. We think that Fisia today has, if I'm not mistaken, nine stores in NVS. If you look at a shopping center, you'll see at least 50 shopping centers that are highly relevant public, which will extend one of our stores, support one of our stores. I think Centauro also, even though we already have a higher level of penetration, there are still a number of shoppings in which we could enter, obviously with a revenue, with a recipe for a smaller store than those which we have in the main shopping centers, but still a return on invested capital, which is very attractive.
I think that the question of growth is a question that is point by point. These stores are individual questions, specific for the moment in which we're living and how we are now more freed up to go forward. Beyond that, as you mentioned, as you yourself mentioned, we have a number of stores which need to be updated, not necessarily G5s as we're accustomed to because they're smaller stores. You will see that our CapEx grew, and one part of that was investment in stores. We believe that with these reforms of these stores, with the renovation of these stores, this will also help to bring same-store sales to a better level.
Beyond that, as I mentioned, Gustavo made a series of changes in Centauro related to the allocation to better attend and to sell and to allocate correctly the products in the different stores of the company, specific conditions to make combos, conditions to make differential discounts region by region. This type of thing that, as we evolve, we are able to start to gain in gross margin because also it reduces the amount of discounts and put a so all of these specific questions, as well as the actual omnichannel offer itself. We have been working very hard to deliver this at the beginning of the year, and we worked very hard in doing this at the end of the year, and now we are delivering.
When you put all these questions together, these operational questions together, I believe, and also the organic questions of the potential of the market, we believe that this lock that we were faced with limited to a market, but also to specific questions within the company which were solved and that we could think about something that is more aggressive. Having said that, we cannot forget the question which you said. 2025 is a complicated high interest rates where we were a little more conservative, but the potential starting in 2026 for growth, we believe, continues to exist.
[Foreign language] Okay, thank you for your answers.
[Foreign language] The next questions comes from Victor Rogatis from Itaú BBA. Please go ahead. [Foreign language] Victor, please go ahead. Your microphone is open. [Foreign language]
The session of questions and answers is now closed. We'd like to pass the microphone to Pedro Zemel for his final considerations.
[Foreign language] Thank you all very much. I'm going to make a final comment in two short parts. [Foreign language] To present somebody who is already well known by you, but who's been with us here in this journal for all 12 years that I've been here in the company, in which I've been here as the CEO running these projects. The most critical projects and the most important, and what I evaluate as a journey, a successful journey. I appreciate greatly his contribution. This is my last call. The next one will be his first call. I wanted to pass this over to Gustavo, and then I'll come back to make my final, final comments. Gustavo, please.
[Foreign language] Good morning, everyone. Before anything else, I wanted to congratulate Pedro for his trajectory. The numbers which were presented have crowned the end of his trajectory, but not even close to describing what his leadership has been doing these nine years as CEO. I had the opportunity and the privilege to accompany him closely and to be inspired by these nine years. Once again, I wanted to congratulate him for his trajectory, which was incredible. [Foreign language] . The idea is also to say hello to you. I think during the next few months, we'll have the chance to get to know each other better and to learn more about the business of the group.
Briefly, in April, I will complete 12 years with the company. During these 12 years, I've had the opportunity to lead various areas of the company and constantly be very close to several projects which I consider to be central for the development of the company. I participated a great deal in the scale-up of the digital sales. I participated greatly in our implementation of the omnichannel, offering the conceptualization of our G5. More recently, I was responsible for the project of the integration of Fisia into the group. Afterwards, I led the SBF Ventures. Finally, most recently, I've had the privilege and opportunity to lead Centauro, which is very cool, at the end of two years to be able to present these results, the best historical results. I am very excited about this new challenge.
I'm also very confident that we're going to be able to continue to write one more chapter of success in a company which over these last 44 years has been innovating and marking the sporting goods industry as a whole. Once again, I just want to say hi, and we'll be seeing you again more. Before giving it back to Pedro, I wanted to wish him a super success in his new undertaking. I'm sure he's going to be very successful. In any event, Pedro, success in your new undertakings. Thank you.
[Foreign language]. Thank you. I'm very happy to close my cycle as CEO with good cycle, with good results, with an internal result when we see the company that is a company that we're passing along, a company that will continue to evolve.
We will jump from this level to even higher levels. To close, I just want to thank each one of you, the banks and the partners, especially the analysts from the sell side. Thank all of our stockholders and our Board for the partnership during this journey. I also thank the IR team. This is my 24th call. I want to make a special thanks and to express my confidence in the company with the arrival of Gustavo and for the partnership which he will build with Salazar. This is my 24th call that I make as CEO and my 24th with Salazar. It has been an incredible journey, a restructuring of IPO, a follow-on of M&A. We are only here in this place because Salazar was together and has always been a strong hand conducting the company.
I'm very, very happy that he will now continue building the future of the company together with Gustavo. Thank you, Salazar. Thank you all. That's it. Thank you very much.
The video conference of Grupo SBF is now closed. We thank you for your participation. Please have a good day. Thank you.