HAGA3

Haga S.A. Indústria e Comércio is a traditional Brazilian company in the metal-mechanical sector, with common and preferred shares traded on B3 under the tickers HAGA3 and HAGA4. Founded on April 1, 1937, in the city of Nova Friburgo, Rio de Janeiro, by civil engineer Hans Gaiser, a German immigrant, the company emerged in a context of hardware shortages in Brazil resulting from the shutdown of European imports in the pre–World War II period. Following the association between Hans Gaiser and his nephew Frederico Sichel, Haga began producing locks and structured a white malleable iron foundry considered a pioneer in the country, consolidating the industrial foundations that would support its trajectory in the following decades.

From the 1950s through the 1980s, Haga diversified its production and expanded its presence across different industrial chains. The company began supplying cast-iron parts to various capital goods manufacturers, such as sewing machines, typewriters, combustion engines, refrigerator compressors, and fuel pumps, as well as hardware for the construction and shipbuilding industries. In this process, the company took part in creating related businesses, such as a heat-treatment company for steel and metals in the late 1960s, and acquired mechanical and machining companies with the goal of integrating production stages and supplying pre-machined components. Haga also worked on localizing equipment for industrial natural gas installations, such as regulators, meters, and valves, using technology validated by major gas and oil utilities in the country.

The IPO in 1986 marked the listing of Haga’s shares on the Brazilian capital market, with trading on the Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo stock exchanges, which are now consolidated into B3. The late 1980s and early 1990s, however, were marked by a severe financial crisis resulting from a period of what was considered reckless management, which led the company to file for preventive composition with creditors in 1989. Subsequently, there were changes in the company’s control, with the founding family selling the controlling stake to a new controlling shareholder and, later, the divestment of the lock and automotive cylinder division, which at the time was one of the company’s main businesses. After a period of legal disputes and renegotiations, control was transferred to an employees’ association, giving rise to a governance model in which employees came to play a central role in running the company and restoring its operating capacity.

From the mid-1990s onward, Haga focused its efforts on rebalancing its financial position and restoring its production structure while renegotiating debts with financial institutions, suppliers, and public entities. The company implemented cost-reduction programs, workforce adjustments, continuous process improvements, and recovery of industrial equipment. It entered into long-term agreements with major banks, joined tax installment programs, regularized tax and labor liabilities, and progressively settled lawsuits. This process culminated in the full fulfillment of the obligations under the former composition with creditors, with final judgment recognizing the extinction of that regime. The financial reorganization allowed Haga to maintain its industrial operations, preserving its production base in Nova Friburgo.

Under its current business model, Haga focuses on manufacturing, marketing, and distributing locks, padlocks, hinges, and hardware aimed at the construction industry. The company operates through its industrial plant at its headquarters in Nova Friburgo and through a wholly owned subsidiary in Brazil that also operates in the metal-mechanical segment, maintaining a focus on a single operating segment. Its product line covers residential, commercial, and industrial applications, serving projects aimed at the mid-income segment as well as lower-income segments. Its mortise locks for wooden, steel, and aluminum doors are developed according to national technical specifications, with variations for moderate, medium, and heavy traffic and different levels of corrosion resistance, forming a portfolio mainly targeted at exterior doors, interior doors, and bathroom doors.

Haga’s industrial process is based on transforming metal alloys such as steel, zamak, and brass into parts and components through stamping, injection, machining, sanding, polishing, painting, electroplating, assembly, and packaging. The supply chain involves suppliers of metallic and chemical inputs that are relevant in the Brazilian market, including steel coils; nonferrous alloys such as zinc, aluminum, copper, and nickel; as well as paints, varnishes, and brass strips and bars. Production costs are influenced by the volatility of international metal prices, which are often linked to London Metal Exchange quotations and the exchange rate. In distribution, the company uses ground logistics operators for point-to-point delivery to construction companies, door manufacturers, and retail chains of building materials and home centers, in addition to selling to specialized hardware stores.

Haga’s main revenue base is concentrated in the domestic market, with operations throughout Brazil and a marginal presence in some Latin American countries, without generating material revenue abroad. The regional breakdown of sales shows a heavy concentration in the Southeast region, followed by smaller shares in the South, Northeast, Center-West, and, to a residual extent, the North of Brazil. Its main market is the retail trade of building materials, which primarily serves end consumers who build, renovate, or expand their own homes, especially in the mid-income bracket. The company operates in a highly competitive environment, facing competition from larger companies with broad portfolios and national and international presence, as well as smaller manufacturers, some operating informally, which puts pressure on prices and margins. There is no significant customer concentration, and no single buyer accounts for more than 10% of net revenue.

From a regulatory and ESG standpoint, Haga is subject to licenses and permits mainly related to its industrial operations and use of natural resources. Its plant is located in the Serra dos Órgãos region in the state of Rio de Janeiro, and the company holds an operating environmental license issued by a municipal agency under an agreement with the Instituto Estadual do Ambiente (State Environmental Institute), as well as a water-use right granted by the Agência Nacional de Águas (National Water Agency). The company also has specific authorizations from agencies such as the Fire Department, the Federal Police, the Civil Police, and the Ministry of Defense for activities related to the use and control of chemical products and associated risks. Its environmental policy includes rational water use, effluent and air-emissions treatment, and waste management based on reduction, recycling, and reuse, with selective collection and proper disposal of hazardous waste. In terms of social and governance practices, Haga states that it focuses on compliance with labor laws and International Labour Organization guidelines, investments in employee training, transparency policies, fairness among shareholders, and compliance with corporate and tax obligations, structuring an ESG agenda aligned with the continuity of its industrial operations.

Haga’s presence on B3 under the tickers HAGA3 and HAGA4 places it among publicly traded companies in the industrial sector linked to construction, offering exposure to a business intensive in the manufacture of hardware and metal components. Its operations are concentrated in a relatively specialized portfolio focused on locks, padlocks, and hinges for doors and buildings, in a market sensitive to the construction and renovation cycle, income and credit conditions, and the dynamics of national and regional competition. The company operates with a single reported revenue segment based on the production and sale of these hardware items, maintaining an integrated manufacturing structure, a diversified supplier base, and relationships with sales channels ranging from door manufacturers to building-material retailers throughout the country.