PTBL3 Portobello

Portobello S.A. is a ceramic tile manufacturer founded in 1977 in the city of Tijucas, in the state of Santa Catarina, and operates as a joint-stock company. The company went public in 1991, then on the former BOVESPA, and since 2008 its common shares, traded under the ticker PTBL3, have been listed on the Novo Mercado segment of B3, aimed at companies with advanced corporate governance practices. Portobello’s largest industrial complex remains located in Tijucas, where the company began its ceramic activities in 1979 and, over the decades, developed significant industrial capacity in the tile sector. The company has built a track record of expansion based on product innovation, increased production capacity and internationalization, including its entry into exports as early as 1981.

Portobello’s business model is centered on the manufacture and sale of ceramic and porcelain products for the construction sector, focusing on technical and glazed floor tiles, decorative pieces, mosaics, wall tiles for interiors, exterior façades and porcelain furniture. The company operates in an integrated way along the value chain, from mining part of its raw materials, through the manufacture of tiles using different technologies, to distribution and specialized retail. PTBL3 shares reflect a company that combines a capital-intensive industrial operation with a strong commercial presence, both in the domestic and international markets, including supply to large construction projects, multi-brand resellers, home centers and its own ecosystem of finishings stores and franchises.

Portobello’s operating structure is organized into business units that reflect different brand positions and channels. The Portobello unit concentrates the industrial and technological development complex in Tijucas, with six plants primarily dedicated to the production of large-format tiles and slabs, in addition to a portfolio of porcelain tiles, façade cladding, monoporosa and accessories. The brand operates through multiple channels, such as resellers, construction companies, large project specifications and exports, and in 2024 its products reached more than 63 countries, serving 170 customers on all continents. The Pointer unit, with a plant in Marechal Deodoro (Alagoas), complements the portfolio with products aimed at the affordable design segment, strengthening the company’s presence especially in the Northeast region. Portobello America, with a commercial operation and its own manufacturing unit in Baxter, Tennessee (USA), was created to adapt the portfolio to the North American market, combining local development, production and distribution of tiles.

In the retail segment, Portobello Shop plays a central role in the group’s commercial strategy. It is a specialized network for ceramic tiles, porcelain tiles, slabs and complementary products, operating through 29 company-owned stores and 134 franchises across Brazil. This structure is supported by dedicated distribution centers and by a full-solution proposition in finishings, including partner products in the sanitary ware and metal fittings categories, as well as installation systems, mortars and grouts. The chain is positioned among the largest building materials retail operations in the country and prioritizes relationships with architects, specifiers and end customers, also offering the Officina Portobello line, focused on porcelain countertops and furniture. This activity complements Portobello’s industrial base, adding value capture in services, applied design and specialized shopping experience.

Portobello’s geographic footprint combines a strong production base in Brazil with growing internationalization. In the country, the company has two main industrial hubs: Tijucas (SC), close to strategic ports and highways, with major importance for the national ceramic sector; and Marechal Deodoro (AL), inaugurated in 2015, focused primarily on serving the Northeast market with competitively priced design products. Abroad, in addition to exports to dozens of countries, the inauguration of the plant in Baxter, Tennessee, in 2023, with initial capacity of 3.6 million m² per year, marked the company’s first industrial complex outside Brazil, strengthening direct service to the North American market. In 2024, around 22% of consolidated net revenue originated from foreign markets, while Brazil accounted for approximately 78%, which illustrates an operation that is still predominantly domestic, but with a relevant and expanding international share.

From a production processes standpoint, Portobello operates wet and dry process lines, with intensive use of technology primarily of Italian origin, complemented by Chinese equipment. The industrial flow covers body and glaze preparation, pressing in high-capacity hydraulic presses, drying with heat recovery, glazing with inkjet digital printing, firing in natural gas kilns, mesh-backing, polishing, rectification, automatic grading and automated packaging. The company has developed proprietary technology to reintegrate virtually all solid waste generated in the operation, resulting in products with recycled content between 10% and 20% and targeting a high waste recovery rate, which reduces disposal and dependence on virgin raw materials. The industrial structure is complemented by distribution centers in Brazil and the United States, supporting a logistics network designed to serve both retail chains and exports.

Portobello is subject to a broad set of regulations, typical of an industry intensive in natural resources and energy. Its activities depend on environmental licenses issued by state and federal agencies, such as the Instituto do Meio Ambiente de Santa Catarina (IMA), the Secretaria de Estado do Desenvolvimento Econômico Sustentável de Santa Catarina, the Instituto Brasileiro do Meio Ambiente e dos Recursos Naturais Renováveis (IBAMA) and the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Supply (with respect, for example, to phytosanitary treatments required for exports, such as the Phytosanitary Treatment for Quarantine Purposes – TFFQ). In the mining front, which supplies part of the ceramic raw materials, the company is regulated by the National Mining Agency (ANM) and the Mining Code, requiring mining permits and compliance with specific resolutions. Additionally, the company monitors regulatory impacts in export markets, such as changes in import control systems in Argentina, which have historically affected the flow of sales to the country.

In terms of environmental, social and governance practices, Portobello operates an environmental management system integrated with the company’s other areas, focusing on energy efficiency, waste management, reuse of inputs and compliance with international quality standards such as ISO 9001:2015. Its energy matrix favors natural gas as the main thermal input, complemented by electricity, including a relevant share from wind sources through supply contracts, use of photovoltaic panels at certain units and efficiency measures such as heat recovery from kilns and replacement of lighting with LEDs. Waste management aims for zero solid waste disposal from the production process, with a high recovery rate through reintegration into the ceramic body, external recycling and reuse of materials such as pallets, refractories and sludge from wastewater treatment plants. The company’s ESG strategy has been formalized in a long-term plan through 2030, structured around pillars that address eco-efficiency, people management, diversity, relations with communities and the strengthening of governance and compliance practices, aligned with internationally established Sustainable Development Goals.

Portobello’s corporate structure includes subsidiaries specialized in specific stages of the value chain. Portobello Shop acts as franchisor of the retail network, PBTech manages the brand’s company-owned stores, Mineração Portobello supplies mineral inputs such as clay, phonolite, phyllite and argillite, and Companhia Brasileira de Cerâmica operates a plant for special cuts under the Officina Portobello brand, as well as distribution centers. In the United States, Portobello America and its industrial subsidiary Portobello America Manufacturing, LLC are responsible for sales, distribution and local production for the North American market. This arrangement reinforces the group’s integrated nature, in which Portobello S.A., through its PTBL3 shares listed on B3, consolidates results from manufacturing, distribution and specialized retail of ceramic tiles across different geographies and market segments.