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MercadoLibre, Inc. Reports Fourth Quarter Financial Results

February 26, 2019 4:01 PM

Net Revenues of $428.0 million, up 61.8% on an FX neutral basis

$5.3 billion Total Payment Volume, up 68.5% on an FX neutral basis

$3.2 billion Gross Merchandise Volume, up 17.6% on an FX neutral basis

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina, Feb. 26, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- MercadoLibre, Inc. (Nasdaq: MELI) (http://www.mercadolibre.com), Latin America’s leading e-commerce technology company, today reported financial results for the quarter ended December 31, 2018.

Pedro Arnt, Chief Financial Officer of MercadoLibre, Inc., commented, “I am pleased to report another quarter of solid performance in our business, across our key business units. During the 4Q’18 we have continued our efforts to re-calibrate our P&L with initiatives such as continued changes to our discounted shipping initiatives, and free listing caps, which allowed us to improved enhanced marketplace monetization. As a consequence our Net Revenues accelerated for the 3rd consecutive quarter, reaching 61.8% YoY on an FX neutral basis.”

Fourth Quarter 2018 Business Highlights1

1 Percentages have been calculated using whole amounts rather than rounded amounts.

Adoption of ASC 606

Effective January 1, 2018, the Company adopted ASC 606, Revenue from Contracts with Customers related to revenue recognition (“ASC 606”) issued by the Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”). The Company has adopted ASC 606 using the full retrospective transition method and has accordingly revised its consolidated financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2017, and applicable interim periods within the year ended December 31, 2017, as if ASC 606 had been effective for those periods. Because the Company did not offer free shipping in 2016, net revenue for that year does not need to be recast.

As a result of adopting ASC 606, the Company must present net revenue net of amounts paid in connection with the Company’s free shipping initiative, when the Company acts as an agent, rather than including these amounts in the cost of net sales, as previously recorded. For the three-month period ended December 31, 2018 the Company incurred $108.1 million of shipping subsidies that have been netted from revenues.

As a result of adopting ASC 606, our net revenues for the periods indicated below have been recast as presented below. Our adoption of 606 does not affect our operating or net income/loss.

In Millions***
YTD 2017* YTD 2018** Q4 2017* Q4 2018**
Gross Billings$1,398.1 $1,864.5 $437.0 $536.2
In Millions***
YTD 2017* YTD 2018** Q4 2017* Q4 2018**
Adjustments (Decrease)$(181.6)$(424.8)$(78.9)$(108.1)
In Millions***
YTD 2017* YTD 2018** Q4 2017* Q4 2018**
Net Revenues$1,216.5 $1,439.7 $358.1 $428.0

*As Recast **As Reported ***The table above may not total due to rounding.

The tables below present our gross billing and amounts paid by us in connection with our free shipping service.

In Millions***
YTD 2017 YTD 2018 Q4 2017 Q4 2018
Brazil$831.4$1,213.8$262.1$358.1
GrossArgentina$359.4$402.1$108.7$99.0
BillingsMexico$86.5$150.3$28.2$50.4
Venezuela$54.3$0.0$16.0$0.0
Others$66.5$98.3$22.1$28.7

In Millions***
YTD 2017 YTD 2018 Q4 2017 Q4 2018
Brazil$ (140.6)$ (347.7)$ (64.8)$ (92.7)
AdjustmentsArgentina$ - $ (25.5)$ - $ (8.2)
(Decrease)Mexico$ (35.2)$ (41.2)$ (10.4)$ (4.9)
Venezuela$ - $ - $ - $ -
Others$ (5.8)$ (10.5)$ (3.7)$ (2.3)

In Millions***
YTD 2017* YTD 2018** Q4 2017* Q4 2018**
Brazil$690.8 866.2 197.3 265.4
NetArgentina$359.4 376.6 108.7 90.8
RevenuesMexico$51.3 109.1 17.7 45.5
Venezuela$54.3 0.0 16.0 0.0
Others$60.7 87.8 18.4 26.3

*As Recast **As Reported ***The table above may not total due to rounding.

Fourth Quarter 2018 Financial Highlights

The following table summarizes certain key performance metrics for the twelve and three months ended December 31, 2018 and 2017.

Years Ended December 31, Three months Ended December 31,
(in millions) (*) 2018 2017 (**) 20182017 (**)
Number of confirmed registered users at end of period 267.4 211.9 267.4 211.9
Number of confirmed new registered users during period 55.5 37.7 18.8 10.7
Gross merchandise volume $ 12,504.9 $ 11,749.3 $ 3,233.0 $ 3,617.7
Number of successful items sold 334.7 270.1 85.6 81.2
Number of successful items shipped 221.7 150.7 62.1 48.3
Total payment volume $ 18,455.9 $ 13,731.7 $ 5,302.1 $ 4,342.8
Total volume of payments on marketplace $ 11,274.5 $ 9,627.6 $ 2,950.4 $ 2,947.4
Total payment transactions 389.3 231.4 125.6 73.2
Unique buyers 37.4 33.7 19.0 17.7
Unique sellers 10.8 10.1 4.1 4.6
Capital expenditures $ 102.0 $ 83.5 $ 21.5 $ 31.4
Depreciation and amortization $ 45.8 $ 40.9 $ 11.9 $ 11.0

(*) Figures have been expressed using rounding amounts. Growth calculations using this table may not total due to rounding. (**) Data for 2017 includes Venezuelan metrics up to November 30, 2017 due to deconsolidation. Please refer to Note 2 of our audited consolidated financial statements for additional detail.

Table of Year-over-year USD Revenue Growth Rates by Quarter

Year-over-year Growth rates
Consolidated Net RevenuesQ4’17 Q1’18 Q2’18 Q3’18 Q4’18
Brazil37%15%25%25%34%
Argentina42%43%14%(8)%(16)%
Mexico48%51%62%152%157%

Table of Year-over-year Local Currency Revenue Growth Rates by Quarter

Year-over-year Growth rates
Consolidated Net RevenuesQ4’17 Q1’18 Q2’18 Q3’18 Q4’18
Brazil35%19%40%56%58%
Argentina62%80%68%68%77%
Mexico41%39%71%168%170%

Conference Call and Webcast

The Company will host a conference call and audio webcast on Feb 26th, 2019 at 4:30 p.m. Eastern Time. The conference call may be accessed by dialing (877) 303-7209 / (970) 315-0420 (Conference ID 3497822) and requesting inclusion in the call for MercadoLibre. The live conference call can be accessed via audio webcast at the investor relations section of the Company's website, at http://investor.mercadolibre.com. An archive of the webcast will be available for one week following the conclusion of the conference call.

Definition of Selected Operational Metrics

Gross Billings - Total accrued fees, commissions, interest, and other sales received from users.

Foreign Exchange (“FX”) Neutral – Calculated by using the average monthly exchange rate of each month of 2017 and applying it to the corresponding months in the current year, so as to calculate what the results would have been had exchange rates remained constant. Intercompany allocations are excluded from this calculation. These calculations do not include any other macroeconomic effect such as local currency inflation effects or any price adjustment to compensate local currency inflation or devaluations.

Gross merchandise volume – Measure of the total U.S. dollar sum of all transactions completed through the MercadoLibre Marketplace, excluding Classifieds transactions.

Total payment transactions – Measure of the number of all transactions paid for using MercadoPago.

Total volume of payments on marketplace - Measure of the total U.S. dollar sum of all marketplace transactions paid for using MercadoPago, excluding shipping and financing fees.

Total payment volume – Measure of total U.S. dollar sum of all transactions paid for using MercadoPago, including marketplace and non-marketplace transactions.

Enhanced Marketplace - Revenues from the Enhanced Marketplace service, include the final value fees and shipping fees charged to the Company’s customers.

Items sold – Measure of the number of items that were sold/purchased through the MercadoLibre Marketplace, excluding Classifieds items.

Items shipped – Measure of the number of items that were shipped through our shipping service.

Local Currency Growth Rates – Refer to FX Neutral definition.

Net income margin – Defined as net income as a percentage of net revenues.

New confirmed registered users – Measure of the number of new users who have registered on the MercadoLibre Marketplace and confirmed their registration, excluding Classifieds users.

Operating margin – Defined as income from operations as a percentage of net revenues.

Total confirmed registered users – Measure of the cumulative number of users who have registered on the MercadoLibre Marketplace and confirmed their registration, excluding Classifieds users.

Unique Buyers – New or existing users with at least one purchase made in the period, including Classifieds users.

Unique Sellers – New or existing users with at least one new listing in the period, including Classifieds users.

About MercadoLibre

Founded in 1999, MercadoLibre is Latin America’s leading e-commerce technology company. Through its primary platforms, MercadoLibre.com and MercadoPago.com, it provides solutions to individuals and companies buying, selling, advertising, and paying for goods and services online.

MercadoLibre.com serves millions of users and creates a market for a wide variety of goods and services in an easy, safe and efficient way. The site is among the top 50 in the world in terms of page views and is the leading retail platform in unique visitors in the major countries in which it operates according to metrics provided by comScore Networks. The Company is listed on NASDAQ (Nasdaq: MELI) following its initial public offering in 2007.

For more information about the Company visit: http://investor.mercadolibre.com.

The MercadoLibre, Inc. logo is available at https://resource.globenewswire.com/Resource/Download/6ab227b7-693f-4b17-b80c-552ae45c76bf?size=0

Forward-Looking Statements

Any statements herein regarding MercadoLibre, Inc. that are not historical or current facts are forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements convey MercadoLibre, Inc.’s current expectations or forecasts of future events. Forward-looking statements regarding MercadoLibre, Inc. involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause MercadoLibre, Inc.’s actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performances or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. Certain of these risks and uncertainties are described in the “Risk Factors,” “Forward-Looking Statements” and “Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements” sections of MercadoLibre, Inc.’s annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2018, and any of MercadoLibre, Inc.’s other applicable filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Unless required by law, MercadoLibre, Inc. undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements to reflect circumstances or events after the date hereof.

MercadoLibre, Inc.Consolidated Balance SheetsAs of December 31, 2018 and 2017(In thousands of U.S. dollars, except par value)

December 31, December 31,
2018 2017
Assets
Current assets:
Cash and cash equivalents$ 440,332 $ 388,260
Restricted cash and cash equivalents 24,363
Short-term investments (284,317 held in guarantee - see Note 4) 461,541 209,432
Accounts receivable, net 35,153 28,168
Credit cards receivable, net 360,298 521,130
Loans receivable, net 95,778 73,409
Prepaid expenses 27,477 5,864
Inventory 4,612 2,549
Other assets 61,569 58,107
Total current assets 1,511,123 1,286,919
Non-current assets:
Long-term investments 276,136 34,720
Property and equipment, net 165,614 114,837
Goodwill 88,883 92,279
Intangible assets, net 18,581 23,174
Deferred tax assets 141,438 57,324
Other assets 37,744 63,934
Total non-current assets 728,396 386,268
Total assets$ 2,239,519 $ 1,673,187
Liabilities and Equity
Current liabilities:
Accounts payable and accrued expenses$ 266,759 $ 221,095
Funds payable to customers 640,954 583,107
Salaries and social security payable 60,406 65,053
Taxes payable 31,058 32,150
Loans payable and other financial liabilities 132,949 56,325
Other liabilities 34,098 3,678
Dividends payable 6,624
Total current liabilities 1,166,224 968,032
Non-current liabilities:
Salaries and social security payable 23,161 25,002
Loans payable and other financial liabilities 602,228 312,089
Deferred tax liabilities 91,698 23,819
Other liabilities 19,508 18,466
Total non-current liabilities 736,595 379,376
Total liabilities$ 1,902,819 $ 1,347,408
Equity:
Common stock, $0.001 par value, 110,000,000 shares authorized, 45,202,859 and 44,157,364 shares issued and outstanding at December 31, 2018 and December 31, 2017$ 45 $ 44
Additional paid-in capital 224,800 70,661
Retained earnings 503,432 537,925
Accumulated other comprehensive loss (391,577) (282,851)
Total Equity 336,700 325,779
Total Liabilities and Equity$ 2,239,519 $ 1,673,187

MercadoLibre, Inc.Consolidated Statements of IncomeFor the years ended December 31, 2018, 2017 and 2016(In thousands of U.S. dollars, except for share data)

Year Ended December 31, Three Months Ended December 31,
2018 2017 2016 2018 2017
Net revenues$ 1,439,653 $ 1,216,542 $ 844,396 $ 428,019 $ 358,064
Cost of net revenues (742,645) (496,942) (307,538) (223,235) (154,701)
Gross profit 697,008 719,600 536,858 204,784 203,363
Operating expenses:
Product and technology development (146,273) (127,160) (98,479) (38,963) (34,161)
Sales and marketing (482,447) (325,375) (156,296) (140,035) (117,433)
General and administrative (137,770) (122,194) (87,310) (26,605) (30,621)
Impairment of Long-Lived Assets (2,837) (13,717)
Loss on deconsolidation of Venezuelan subsidiaries (85,761) (85,761)
Total operating expenses (766,490) (663,327) (355,802) (205,603) (267,976)
(Loss) income from operations (69,482) 56,273 181,056 (819) (64,613)
Other income (expenses):
Interest income and other financial gains 42,039 45,901 35,442 14,292 8,881
Interest expense and other financial losses (56,249) (26,469) (25,605) (16,443) (6,783)
Foreign currency gains (losses) 18,240 (21,635) (5,565) (3,862) (2,157)
Net (loss) income before income tax gain (expense) (65,452) 54,070 185,328 (6,832) (64,672)
Income tax gain (expense) 28,867 (40,290) (48,962) 4,496 (3,048)
Net (loss) income$ (36,585) $ 13,780 $ 136,366 $ (2,336) $ (67,720)

Year Ended December 31, Three Months Ended December 31,
2018 2017 2016 2018 2017
Basic EPS
Basic net (loss) income
Available to shareholders per common share$ (0.82) $ 0.31 $ 3.09 $ (0.05) $ (1.53)
Weighted average of outstanding common shares 44,529,614 44,157,364 44,157,251 45,202,859 44,157,364
Diluted EPS
Diluted net (loss) income
Available to shareholders per common share$ (0.82) $ 0.31 $ 3.09 $ (0.05) $ (1.53)
Weighted average of outstanding common shares 44,529,614 44,157,364 44,157,251 45,202,859 44,157,364
Cash Dividends declared (per share) 0.600 0.600

MercadoLibre, Inc.Consolidated Statement of Cash FlowsFor the years ended December 31, 2018, 2017 and 2016(In thousands of U.S. dollars)

Year Ended December 31,
2018 2017 2016
Cash flows from operations:
Net (loss) income$ (36,585) $ 13,780 $ 136,366
Adjustments to reconcile net (loss) income to net cash provided by operating activities:
Unrealized devaluation loss, net 11,131 28,463 4,967
Impairment of Long-Lived Assets 2,837 13,717
Loss on deconsolidation of Venezuelan subsidiaries 85,761
Depreciation and amortization 45,792 40,921 29,022
Accrued interest (17,811) (20,192) (17,794)
Non cash interest and convertible bonds amortization of debt discount and amortization of debt issuance costs 11,408 10,855 9,837
LTRP accrued compensation 27,525 35,719 22,983
Deferred income taxes (92,585) (24,575) (6,188)
Changes in assets and liabilities:
Accounts receivable (27,105) (21,817) (15,428)
Credit cards receivable 42,655 (257,563) (180,592)
Prepaid expenses (23,342) 8,670 (9,133)
Inventory (3,015) (1,549) (787)
Other assets (17,617) (54,780) (24,425)
Accounts payable and accrued expenses 90,123 150,215 47,980
Funds payable to customers 175,398 242,037 164,060
Other liabilities 28,202 7,680 (45)
Interest received from investments 16,733 22,548 15,719
Net cash provided by operating activities 230,907 269,010 190,259
Cash flows from investing activities:
Purchase of investments (3,176,078) (4,553,649) (3,501,283)
Proceeds from sale and maturity of investments 2,662,800 4,713,934 3,508,293
Payment for acquired businesses, net of cash acquired (4,195) (8,568) (7,284)
Reduction of cash due to Venezuela deconsolidation (27,230)
Purchases of intangible assets (192) (33) (431)
Changes in principal loans receivable, net (57,232) (72,244) (6,599)
Advance for property and equipment (4,426) (19,695) (8,412)
Purchases of property and equipment (93,136) (55,156) (68,527)
Net cash used in investing activities (672,459) (22,641) (84,243)
Cash flows from financing activities:
Funds received from the issuance of convertible notes 880,000
Transaction costs from the issuance of convertible notes (16,264)
Payments on convertible note (348,123)
Purchase of convertible note capped calls (148,943) (67,308)
Unwind of convertible note capped calls 136,108
Proceeds from loans payable and other financial liabilities 236,873 47,905 11,435
Payments on loans payable and other financing (123,822) (5,004) (6,684)
Dividends paid (6,624) (26,496) (24,419)
Payment of finance lease obligations (323)
Net cash provided by (used in) financing activities 608,882 (50,903) (19,668)
Effect of exchange rate changes on cash, cash equivalents, restricted cash and cash equivalents (90,895) (41,346) (19,089)
Net increase in cash, cash equivalents, restricted cash and cash equivalents 76,435 154,120 67,259
Cash, cash equivalents, restricted cash and cash equivalents, beginning of the year 388,260 234,140 166,881
Cash, cash equivalents, restricted cash and cash equivalents, end of the year$464,695 $388,260 $234,140

Financial results of reporting segments

Year Ended December 31, 2018
Brazil Argentina Mexico Other Countries Total
(In thousands)
Net revenues $ 866,175 $ 376,563 $ 109,096 $ 87,819 $ 1,439,653
Direct costs (762,636) (254,539) (164,637) (79,581) (1,261,393)
Direct contribution 103,539 122,024 (55,541) 8,238 178,260
Operating expenses and indirect costs of net revenues (247,742)
Loss from operations (69,482)
Other income (expenses):
Interest income and other financial gains 42,039
Interest expense and other financial losses (56,249)
Foreign currency gains 18,240
Net loss before income tax gain $ (65,452)

Year Ended December 31, 2017 (*)
Brazil Argentina Mexico Venezuela Other Countries Total
(In thousands)
Net revenues$ 690,808 $ 359,357 $ 51,335 $ 54,327 $ 60,715 $ 1,216,542
Direct costs (471,588) (215,831) (107,408) (22,101) (53,201) $ (870,129)
Impairment of Long-lived Assets - - - (2,837) - $ (2,837)
Loss on deconsolidation of Venezuelan subsidiary - - - (76,617) - $ (76,617)
Direct contribution 219,220 143,526 (56,073) (47,228) 7,514 266,959
Operating expenses and indirect costs of net revenues (201,542)
Loss on Deconsolidation of Venezuelan's Intercompany balances (9,144)
Income from operations 56,273
Other income (expenses):
Interest income and other financial gains 45,901
Interest expense and other financial losses (26,469)
Foreign currency losses (21,635)
Net income before income tax expense $ 54,070

(*)Excludes results of operations for Venezuela for the month of December 2017.

Three Months Ended December 31, 2018
Brazil Argentina Mexico Other Countries Total
Net revenues$265,353 $90,800 $45,529 $26,337 $428,019
Direct costs (218,497) (68,783) (63,550) (22,397) (373,227)
Direct contribution 46,856 22,017 (18,021) 3,940 54,792
Operating expenses and indirect costs of net revenues (55,611)
Income from operations (819)
Other income (expenses):
Interest income and other financial gains 14,292
Interest expense and other financial losses (16,443)
Foreign currency losses (3,862)
Net loss before income tax gain $(6,832)

Three Months Ended December 31, 2017 (*)
Brazil Argentina Mexico Venezuela Other Countries Total
Net revenues$197,300 $108,666 $17,717 $15,999 $18,381 $358,063
Direct costs (157,391) (65,215) (36,434) (5,260) (18,269) (282,569)
Loss on deconsolidation of Venezuelan subsidiary - - - (76,617) - (76,617)
Direct contribution 39,909 43,451 (18,717) (65,878) 112 (1,123)
Operating expenses and indirect costs of net revenues (54,346)
Loss on Deconsolidation of Venezuelan's Intercompany balances (9,144)
Income from operations (64,613)
Other income (expenses):
Interest income and other financial gains 8,881
Interest expense and other financial losses (6,783)
Foreign currency losses (2,157)
Net loss before income tax gain $(64,672)

(*)Excludes results of operations for Venezuela for the month of December 2017.

Non-GAAP Financial Measures

To supplement our consolidated financial statements presented in accordance with U.S. GAAP, we use foreign exchange (“FX”) neutral measures.

This non-GAAP measure should not be considered in isolation or as a substitute for measures of performance prepared in accordance with U.S. GAAP and may be different from non-GAAP measures used by other companies. In addition, this non-GAAP measure is not based on any comprehensive set of accounting rules or principles. Non-GAAP measures have limitations in that they do not reflect all of the amounts associated with our results of operations as determined in accordance with U.S. GAAP. This non-GAAP financial measure should only be used to evaluate our results of operations in conjunction with the most comparable U.S. GAAP financial measures.

Reconciliation of this non-GAAP financial measure to the most comparable U.S. GAAP financial measures can be found in the tables included in this quarterly report.

The Company believes that reconciliation of FX neutral measures to the most directly comparable GAAP measure provides investors an overall understanding of our current financial performance and its prospects for the future. Specifically, we believe this non-GAAP measure provide useful information to both management and investors by excluding the foreign currency exchange rate impact that may not be indicative of our core operating results and business outlook.

The FX neutral measures were calculated by using the average monthly exchange rates for each month during 2017 and applying them to the corresponding months in 2018, so as to calculate what our results would have been had exchange rates remained stable from one year to the next. The table below excludes intercompany allocation FX effects. Finally, this measure does not include any other macroeconomic effect such as local currency inflation effects, the impact on impairment calculations or any price adjustment to compensate local currency inflation or devaluations.

The following table sets forth the FX neutral measures related to our reported results of the operations for the three-month period ended December 31, 2018:

Three-months Period Ended December 31, (*)
As reported FX Neutral Measures
(In millions, except percentages) 2018 2017 Percentage Change 2018 2017 Percentage Change
Net revenues$428.0 $358.1 19.5% $579.5 $358.1 61.8%
Cost of net revenues (223.2) (154.7) 44.3% (309.3) (154.7) 100.0%
Gross profit 204.8 203.4 0.7% 270.2 203.4 32.8%
Operating expenses (205.6) (182.2) 12.8% (289.4) (182.2) 58.8%
Loss on Deconsolidation of Venezuelan Subsidiaries (85.8) -100.0% (85.8) -100.0%
Total operating expenses (205.6) (268.0) -23.3% (289.4) (268.0) 8.0%
Loss from operations (0.8) (64.6) -98.8% (19.2) (64.6) -70.2%

(*) The table above may not total due to rounding.

CONTACT: MercadoLibre, Inc.Investor Relations[email protected]

http://investor.mercadolibre.com

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Source: MercadoLibre, Inc.

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