Upgrade to SI Premium - Free Trial

MercadoLibre, Inc. Reports Fourth Quarter 2019 Financial Results

February 10, 2020 4:01 PM

Net Revenues of $674.3 million, up 84.4% YoY on an FX neutral basis

$8.7 billion Total Payment Volume, up 98.5% YoY on an FX neutral basis

$3.9 billion Gross Merchandise Volume, up 39.7% YoY on an FX neutral basis

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina, Feb. 10, 2020 (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, 2019.

Pedro Arnt, Chief Financial Officer of MercadoLibre, Inc., commented, “We are proud to announce the fourth quarter 2019 with a sustained momentum that gives us the confidence to move on to a phase of continuing to prioritize growth, but with a greater focus on driving cost efficiencies and scale benefits through the P&Ls of our larger more consolidated businesses. This will be one of our objectives for the upcoming year. We believe we are investing appropriately behind growth, building superior experiences and products for our consumers and merchants, and continuing committed to our long term goal of disrupting both commerce and finance in Latin America. We are also proud to invite you to check our sustainability report, also available for the first time along with the annual report.”

Fourth Quarter 2019 Business Highlights

The tables below present our gross billings, amounts paid by us in connection with our free shipping service and net revenues.

The Company presents net revenues net of amounts paid in connection with the Company’s free shipping initiative, when the Company acts as an agent. For the three-month period ended December 31st, 2019 the Company incurred $56.8 million of shipping subsidies that have been netted from revenues.

In Millions (*)
Q4 2019 Q4 2018
Brazil$463.8 $358.1
GrossArgentina$139.5 $99.0
BillingsMexico$96.3 $50.4
Others$31.5 $28.7
Total$731.1 $536.2

In Millions (*)
Q4 2019 Q4 2018
Brazil$ (35.5) $ (92.7)
Free ShippingArgentina$ (7.0) $ (8.2)
service costMexico$ (11.5) $ (4.9)
Others$ (2.8) $ (2.3)
Total$ (56.8) $ (108.1)

In Millions (*)
Q4 2019 Q4 2018
Brazil$428.3 $265.4
NetArgentina$132.4 $90.8
RevenuesMexico$84.8 $45.5
Others$28.7 $26.3
Total$674.3 $428.0

*The tables above may not total due to rounding.

Fourth Quarter 2019 Financial Highlights

The following table summarizes certain key performance metrics for the twelve and three months periods ended December 31, 2019 and 2018.

Year ended December 31, (*) Three-months period ended December 31, (*)
(in millions) 2019 2018 2019 2018
Other data:
Number of confirmed registered users at end of period 320.6 267.4 320.6 267.4
Number of confirmed new registered users during period 53.2 55.5 14.6 18.8
Gross merchandise volume$ 13,997.4 $ 12,504.9 $ 3,871.3 $ 3,233.0
Number of successful items sold 378.9 334.7 109.5 85.6
Number of successful items shipped 306.9 221.7 92.6 62.1
Total payment volume$ 28,389.9 $ 18,455.9 $ 8,668.2 $ 5,302.1
Total volume of payments on marketplace$ 13,051.7 $ 11,274.5 $ 3,658.0 $ 2,950.4
Total payment transactions 838.0 389.3 285.5 125.6
Unique buyers 44.2 37.4 24.1 19.0
Unique sellers 11.2 10.8 4.2 4.1
Capital expenditures$ 141.4 $ 102.0 $ 40.6 $ 21.5
Depreciation and amortization$ 73.3 $ 45.8 $ 20.8 $ 11.9

(*) Figures have been calculated using rounded amounts. Growth calculations based on this table may not total due to rounding.

Year-over-year USD Revenue Growth Rates by Quarter

Consolidated Net RevenuesQ4’18 Q1’19 Q2’19 Q3’19 Q4’19
Brazil34 % 64 %74%77%61%
Argentina(16)% (8)%14%39%46%
Mexico157 % 220 %267%146%86%

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

Consolidated Net RevenuesQ4’18 Q1’19 Q2’19 Q3’19 Q4’19
Brazil58% 91%89%77%74%
Argentina77% 83%115%119%133%
Mexico170% 227%261%153%80%

Conference Call and Webcast

The Company will host a conference call and audio webcast on February 10th, 2020 at 4:30 p.m. Eastern Time. The conference call may be accessed by dialing (877) 303-7209 / (970) 315-0420 (Conference ID –5176529–) 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 2018 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 Mercado Libre Marketplace, excluding Classifieds transactions.

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

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

Total payment volume– Measure of total U.S. dollar sum of all transactions paid for using Mercado Pago, 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 Mercado Libre 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 Mercado Libre 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 Mercado Libre 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 the largest online commerce ecosystem in Latin America, serving as an integrated regional platform and as a provider of the necessary online and technology- based tools that allow businesses and individuals to trade products and services in the region. The Company enables commerce through its marketplace platform (including online classifieds for motor vehicles, vessels, aircraft, services and real estate), which allows users to buy and sell in most of Latin America.

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, 2019, 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 Sheets(In thousands of U.S. dollars, except par value)

December 31, December 31,
2019 2018
Assets
Current assets:
Cash and cash equivalents$ 1,384,740 $ 440,332
Restricted cash and cash equivalents 66,684 24,363
Short-term investments (522,798 and 284,317 held in guarantee) 1,597,241 461,541
Accounts receivable, net 35,446 35,153
Credit cards receivable, net 379,969 360,298
Loans receivable, net 182,105 95,778
Prepaid expenses 45,309 27,477
Inventory 8,626 4,612
Other assets 88,736 61,569
Total current assets 3,788,856 1,511,123
Non-current assets:
Long-term investments 263,983 276,136
Loans receivable, net 6,439
Property and equipment, net 244,257 165,614
Operating lease right-of-use assets 200,449
Goodwill 87,609 88,883
Intangible assets, net 14,275 18,581
Deferred tax assets 117,582 141,438
Other assets 58,241 37,744
Total non-current assets 992,835 728,396
Total assets$ 4,781,691 $ 2,239,519
Liabilities
Current liabilities:
Accounts payable and accrued expenses$ 372,309 $ 266,759
Funds payable to customers 894,057 640,954
Salaries and social security payable 101,841 60,406
Taxes payable 60,247 31,058
Loans payable and other financial liabilities 186,138 132,949
Operating lease liabilities 23,259
Other liabilities 114,469 34,098
Total current liabilities 1,752,320 1,166,224
Non-current liabilities:
Salaries and social security payable 26,803 23,161
Loans payable and other financial liabilities 631,353 602,228
Operating lease liabilities 176,673
Deferred tax liabilities 99,952 91,698
Other liabilities 12,627 19,508
Total non-current liabilities 947,408 736,595
Total liabilities$ 2,699,728 $ 1,902,819
Commitments and contingencies
Redeemable convertible preferred stock, $0.001 par value, 40,000,000 shares
authorized, 100,000 shares issued and outstanding at December 31, 2019$ 98,843 $
Equity
Common stock, $0.001 par value, 110,000,000 shares authorized,
49,709,955 and 45,202,859 shares issued and outstanding at December 31,
2019 and December 31, 2018$ 50 $ 45
Additional paid-in capital 2,067,869 224,800
Treasury stock (720)
Retained earnings 322,592 503,432
Accumulated other comprehensive loss (406,671) (391,577)
Total Equity 1,983,120 336,700
Total Liabilities, Redeemable convertible preferred stock and Equity$ 4,682,848 $ 2,239,519

MercadoLibre, Inc.Consolidated Statements of IncomeFor the twelve and three-month periods ended December 31, 2019 and 2018(In thousands of U.S. dollars, except for share data)

Year Ended December 31, Three Months Ended December 31,
2019 2018 2019 2018
Net revenues$ 2,296,314 $ 1,439,653 $ 674,271 $ 428,019
Cost of net revenues (1,194,191) (742,645) (365,924) (223,236)
Gross profit 1,102,123 697,008 308,347 204,783
Operating expenses:
Product and technology development (223,807) (146,273) (58,020) (38,963)
Sales and marketing (834,022) (482,447) (269,751) (140,035)
General and administrative (197,455) (137,770) (49,463) (26,605)
Total operating expenses (1,255,284) (766,490) (377,234) (205,603)
Loss from operations (153,161) (69,482) (68,887) (820)
Other income (expenses):
Interest income and other financial gains 113,523 42,039 26,933 14,292
Interest expense and other financial losses (65,876) (56,249) (21,187) (16,443)
Foreign currency (losses) gains (1,732) 18,240 167 (3,862)
Net loss before income tax (expense) gain (107,246) (65,452) (62,974) (6,833)
Income tax (expense) gain (64,753) 28,867 8,976 4,496
Net loss$ (171,999) $ (36,585) $ (53,998) $ (2,337)

Year Ended December 31, Three Months Ended December 31,
2019 2018 2019 2018
Basic EPS
Basic net loss
Available to shareholders per common share$ (3.71) $ (0.82) $ (1.11) $ (0.05)
Weighted average of outstanding common shares 48,692,906 44,529,614 49,709,955 45,202,859
Diluted EPS
Diluted net loss
Available to shareholders per common share$ (3.71) $ (0.82) $ (1.11) $ (0.05)
Weighted average of outstanding common shares 48,692,906 44,529,614 49,709,955 45,202,859

MercadoLibre, Inc.Consolidated Statement of Cash FlowsFor the years ended December 31, 2019 and 2018

Year Ended December 31,
2019 2018
Cash flows from operations:
Net loss$ (171,999) $ (36,585)
Adjustments to reconcile net loss to net cash provided by operating activities:
Unrealized devaluation loss, net 44,326 11,131
Depreciation and amortization 73,320 45,792
Accrued interest (54,309) (17,811)
Non cash interest, convertible notes amortization of debt discount and amortization of debt issuance costs and other charges 86,694 11,408
Stock-based compensation expense - restricted shares 395
LTRP accrued compensation 51,662 27,525
Deferred income taxes 16,453 (92,585)
Changes in assets and liabilities:
Accounts receivable (507) (27,105)
Credit cards receivable (29,315) 42,655
Prepaid expenses (17,956) (23,342)
Inventory (4,148) (3,015)
Other assets (49,390) (17,617)
Payables and accrued expenses 143,495 90,123
Funds payable to customers 267,293 175,398
Other liabilities 45,452 28,202
Interest received from investments 49,625 16,733
Net cash provided by operating activities 451,091 230,907
Cash flows from investing activities:
Purchase of investments (4,490,678) (3,176,078)
Proceeds from sale and maturity of investments 3,353,606 2,662,800
Payment for acquired businesses, net of cash acquired (4,195)
Purchases of intangible assets (72) (192)
Changes in principal loans receivable, net (173,848) (57,232)
Advance for property and equipment (4,426)
Purchases of property and equipment (136,798) (93,136)
Net cash used in investing activities (1,447,790) (672,459)
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 (25) (348,123)
Purchase of convertible note capped calls (96,367) (148,943)
Unwind of convertible note capped calls 136,108
Proceeds from loans payable and other financial liabilities 629,891 236,873
Payments on loans payable and other financing liabilities (472,897) (123,822)
Dividends paid (6,624)
Payment of finance lease obligations (1,929) (323)
Common Stock repurchased (720)
Dividends paid of preferred stock (2,844)
Proceeds from issuance of convertible redeemable preferred stock, net 98,688
Proceeds from issuance of common stock, net 1,867,215
Net cash provided by financing activities 2,021,012 608,882
Effect of exchange rate changes on cash, cash equivalents, restricted cash and cash equivalents (37,584) (90,895)
Net increase in cash, cash equivalents, restricted cash and cash equivalents 986,729 76,435
Cash, cash equivalents, restricted cash and cash equivalents, beginning of the year 464,695 388,260
Cash, cash equivalents, restricted cash and cash equivalents, end of the year$1,451,424 $464,695

Financial results of reporting segments

Three Months Ended December 31, 2019
Brazil Argentina Mexico Other Countries Total
Net revenues$428,327 $132,440 $84,825 $28,679 $674,271
Direct costs (373,417) (107,790) (135,840) (34,242) (651,289)
Direct contribution 54,910 24,650 (51,015) (5,563) 22,982
Operating expenses and indirect costs of net revenues (91,869)
Loss from operations (68,887)
Other income (expenses):
Interest income and other financial gains 26,933
Interest expense and other financial losses (21,187)
Foreign currency gains 167
Net loss before income tax gain $(62,974)

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 (55,612)
Loss from operations (820)
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 $(6,833)

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 2018 and applying them to the corresponding months in 2019, 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, 2019:

Three-month Periods Ended December 31, (*)
As reported FX Neutral Measures As reported
(In millions, except percentages) 2019 2018 Percentage Change 2019 2018 Percentage Change
(Unaudited) (Unaudited)
Net revenues$ 674.3 $ 428.0 57.5% $ 789.4 $ 428.0 84.4%
Cost of net revenues (365.9) (223.2) 63.9% (435.0) (223.2) 94.9%
Gross profit 308.3 204.8 50.6% 354.4 204.8 73.1%
Operating expenses (377.2) (205.6) 83.5% (451.9) (205.6) 119.8%
Loss from operations (68.9) (0.8) 8311.3% (97.5) (0.8) 11805.7%

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

CONTACT: MercadoLibre, Inc.

Investor Relations

[email protected]

http://investor.mercadolibre.com

MercadoLibre, Inc. Logo

Source: MercadoLibre, Inc.

Categories

Globe Newswire Press Releases

Next Articles