The number of gyms that the Smart Fit Group can open without compromising profitability is a question that is repeated quarterly in earnings presentations.

The second quarter of this year was no different. The fitness and wellness group reached 2,170 units, after opening 352 units in the last 12 months, maintaining an expansion rate close to 20% per year.

But there's one number that helps explain the growth engine for the group in the coming quarters. TotalPass , a corporate benefits program that aggregates gym memberships, reached 2.3 million users and experienced 70% growth in 12 months.

"TotalPass has always been a pleasant surprise. Things happen faster and on a larger scale than we expected," says José Luís Rizzardo , CFO of the Smart Fit Group, to Números Falam .

"We always expect X from TotalPass, and when we look, that X arrives faster. And it's not X, it's X plus something else," he adds on the bi-weekly program that airs Fridays at 7:45 pm on CNN Money ( the program starts at 5:20 pm ).

Created in 2016, TotalPass gained traction starting in 2019, when it began receiving more capital and management attention – one of the main “sponsors” was Diogo Corona , now CEO, who at the time held the COO position.

TotalPass, which "had everything going against it" within a company whose main expertise was building and operating gyms, placed the group in competition for a much larger market than that defined by the turnstiles of its own facilities.

This advancement also placed Smart Fit in a major competition. Wellhub , formerly Gympass, pioneered the transformation of gym access into a corporate benefit and later expanded its offering to a more comprehensive wellness platform.

TotalPass was born as a challenger and, for a long time, lagged behind its rival. In 2023, Diogo Corona compared the venture to McDonald's creating iFood.

Over the past three years, the gap has narrowed. By September 2024, TotalPass had already jumped from 8,000 to 18,000 partner gyms in just over a year and was establishing itself as Wellhub's main Brazilian rival.

The dispute also reached the Administrative Council for Economic Defense (Cade), in clashes related to Wellhub's exclusivity clauses with partner gyms.

Now, Rizzardo states that TotalPass reached a 36% market share in Brazil in July, with a gain of approximately ten percentage points in 12 months. In Mexico, the platform is already the leader among aggregators.

According to the CFO of the Smart Fit Group, the addressable and potential market for TotalPass needs to be compared to the 50 million beneficiaries of health plans and the more than 30 million beneficiaries of dental plans. Today, approximately 13 million Brazilians frequent gyms, according to industry data.

Weight from gyms

While TotalPass is the big bet for the group's next cycle, the traditional business continues to provide the economic muscle.

The growth in the number of Smart Fit, Bio Ritmo, Nation, Aera Pilates , Velocity, Race Bootcamp, and other gyms did not prevent improved profitability.

The gross cash margin for mature gyms stood at 51%, remaining at a level considered healthy by the company for the 13th consecutive quarter.

The gyms that opened in 2024 are already operating with a 55% margin, even higher than that of established gyms, while those inaugurated in 2025 increased from 37% to 48% between the first and second quarters.

In consolidated terms, EBITDA exceeded R$700 million in a quarter for the first time, reaching R$711.6 million, a 24% increase over the same period last year. The EBITDA margin reached 32.7%, an expansion of 0.5 percentage points.

In the second quarter of this year, recurring net income was R$ 204 million, an 8% increase over the same period last year. Net revenue totaled R$ 2.18 billion, a 22% increase over the second quarter of last year.

On the B3 stock exchange, SMFT3 shares are down 21.4% this year. The company's market capitalization is R$ 11.15 billion.