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MercadoLibre, Inc. Reports Fourth Quarter 2021 Financial Results

February 22, 2022 4:01 PM

Net Revenues of $2.1 billion, up 73.9% year-over-year on an FX neutral basis$24.2 billion Total Payment Volume, up 72.8% year-over-year on an FX neutral basis$8.0 billion Gross Merchandise Volume, up 32.2% year-over-year on an FX neutral basis

MONTEVIDEO, Uruguay, Feb. 22, 2022 (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, 2021.

Pedro Arnt, Chief Financial Officer of MercadoLibre, Inc., commented, “Last year presented us with challenges, and with those also came many more opportunities. With our teams’ resilience and focus on delivering on our strategic objectives, we have been able to overcome shifting pandemic lockdown measures, rising inflationary cost pressures and a highly competitive environment in the digital commerce space. The final outcome was a year with record results across the board, sustained strong growth in key business metrics and topline, and improving margins and operating income for a second consecutive year.”

Fourth Quarter 2021 Business Highlights

Fourth Quarter 2021 Financial Highlights

The following table summarizes certain key performance metrics for the twelve- and three-months periods ended December 31, 2021 and 2020.

Year Ended December 31, (*) Three-month Periods Ended December 31, (*)
(in millions) 2021 2020 20212020
Unique active users 139.5 132.5 82.2 74.0
Gross merchandise volume $28,350.9 $20,926.8 $7,956.7 $6,565.4
Number of successful items sold 1,014.3 719.3 287.9 229.4
Number of successful items shipped 962.3 649.2 275.9 214.0
Total payment volume $77,371.1 $49,756.8 $24,244.2 $15,942.1
Total volume of payments on marketplace $27,432.4 $19,951.4 $7,759.3 $6,336.0
Total payment transactions 3,254.5 1,914.5 1,028.9 659.3
Capital expenditures $630.1 $254.1 $196.3 $87.3
Depreciation and amortization $203.9 $105.0 $67.2 $32.6

(*)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 RevenuesQ4’20 Q1’21 Q2’21 Q3’21 Q4’21
Brazil68%93%104%74%51%
Argentina144%124%53%38%47%
Mexico141%143%105%94%92%

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

Consolidated Net RevenuesQ4’20 Q1’21 Q2’21 Q3’21 Q4’21
Brazil120%139%101%69%61%
Argentina229%223%112%83%84%
Mexico155%148%76%76%96%

Conference Call and Webcast

The Company will host a conference call and audio webcast on February 22nd, 2022, at 4:30 p.m. Eastern Time. The conference call may be accessed by dialing (877) 303-7209 / (970) 315-0420 (Conference ID – 2894134 –) 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

Unique Active User – New or existing user who performed at least one of the following actions during the reported period: (1) made one purchase, or reservation, or asked one question on MercadoLibre Marketplace or Classified Marketplace (2) maintained an active listing on MercadoLibre Marketplace or Classified Marketplace (3) maintained an active account in Mercado Shops (4) made a payment, money transfer, collection and/or advance using Mercado Pago (5) maintained an outstanding credit line through Mercado Credito or (6) maintained a balance of more than $5 invested in a Mercado Fondo asset management account.

Foreign Exchange (“FX”) Neutral – Calculated by using the average monthly exchange rate of each month of 2020 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.

MPOS – Mobile point-of-sale is a dedicated wireless device that performs the functions of a cash register or electronic point-of-sale terminal wirelessly.

Commerce – Revenues from core marketplace fees, shipping fees, first-party sales, ad sales, classified fees and other ancillary services.

Fintech – Revenues includes fees from off-platform transactions, financing fees, interest earned from merchant and consumer credits and sale of MPOS.

Successful items sold – Measure of the number of items that were sold/purchased through the Mercado Libre Marketplace, excluding Classifieds items.

Successful 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.

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

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 digital 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 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 the upcoming Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2021, 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,
2021 2020
Assets
Current assets:
Cash and cash equivalents$2,584,586 $1,856,394
Restricted cash and cash equivalents 1,063,377 651,830
Short-term investments (602,193 and 636,949 held in guarantee) 809,522 1,241,306
Accounts receivable, net 98,193 49,691
Credit cards receivable and other means of payments, net 1,839,389 863,073
Loans receivable, net 1,199,059 385,036
Prepaid expenses 40,426 28,378
Inventories 253,077 118,140
Other assets 287,350 152,959
Total current assets 8,174,979 5,346,807
Non-current assets:
Long-term investments 88,598 166,111
Loans receivable, net 61,011 16,619
Property and equipment, net 807,367 391,684
Operating lease right-of-use assets 461,175 303,214
Goodwill 148,243 85,211
Intangible assets, net 44,974 14,155
Deferred tax assets 181,266 134,916
Other assets 133,545 67,615
Total non-current assets 1,926,179 1,179,525
Total assets$10,101,158 $6,526,332
Liabilities
Current liabilities:
Accounts payable and accrued expenses$1,035,860 $767,336
Funds payable to customers 2,393,179 1,695,424
Amounts payable due to credit and debit card transactions 336,863 37,671
Salaries and social security payable 313,192 207,358
Taxes payable 291,456 215,918
Loans payable and other financial liabilities 1,285,416 548,393
Operating lease liabilities 92,343 55,246
Other liabilities 88,393 108,534
Total current liabilities 5,836,702 3,635,880
Non-current liabilities:
Amounts payable due to credit and debit card transactions 3,893
Salaries and social security payable 20,215 49,852
Loans payable and other financial liabilities 2,233,255 860,876
Operating lease liabilities 371,614 243,601
Deferred tax liabilities 62,496 64,354
Other liabilities 41,292 20,191
Total non-current liabilities 2,732,765 1,238,874
Total liabilities$8,569,467 $4,874,754
Commitments and contingencies
Equity
Common stock, $0.001 par value, 110,000,000 shares authorized,
50,418,980 and 49,869,727 shares issued and outstanding at December 31,
2021 and December 31, 2020$50 $50
Additional paid-in capital 2,439,345 1,860,502
Treasury stock (789,982) (54,805)
Retained earnings 397,419 314,115
Accumulated other comprehensive loss (515,141) (468,284)
Total Equity 1,531,691 1,651,578
Total Liabilities and Equity$10,101,158 $6,526,332

MercadoLibre, Inc.Consolidated Statements of IncomeFor the twelve and three-month periods ended December 31, 2021 and 2020(In thousands of U.S. dollars, except for share data)

Year Ended December 31, Three Months Ended December 31,
2021 2020 2021 2020
Net service revenues$6,149,270 $3,690,002 $1,782,732 $1,165,654
Net product revenues 920,139 283,463 348,034 161,650
Net revenues 7,069,409 3,973,465 2,130,766 1,327,304
Cost of net revenues (4,064,357) (2,264,255) (1,277,601) (838,270)
Gross profit 3,005,052 1,709,210 853,165 489,034
Operating expenses:
Product and technology development (590,328) (352,474) (179,637) (116,989)
Sales and marketing (1,509,493) (902,554) (502,704) (282,350)
General and administrative (464,528) (326,490) (147,508) (114,821)
Total operating expenses (2,564,349) (1,581,518) (829,849) (514,160)
Income (loss) from operations 440,703 127,692 23,316 (25,126)
Other income (expenses):
Interest income and other financial gains 137,962 102,767 53,374 22,648
Interest expense and other financial losses (*) (228,704) (106,690) (53,678) (31,607)
Foreign currency losses (109,333) (42,454) (56,951) (9,930)
Net income (loss) before income tax expense 240,628 81,315 (33,939) (44,015)
Income tax expense (148,802) (82,022) (3,643) (6,565)
Equity in earnings of unconsolidated entity (8,522) (8,522)
Net income (loss)$83,304 $(707) $(46,104) $(50,580)

(*)Includes $49,247 thousands of loss on debt extinguishment and premium related to the 2028 Notes repurchase recognized in January 2021.

Year Ended December 31, Three Months Ended December 31,
2021 2020 2021 2020
Basic EPS
Basic net income (loss)
Available to shareholders per common share$1.67 $(0.08) $(0.92) $(1.02)
Weighted average of outstanding common shares 49,802,993 49,740,407 49,926,533 49,820,185
Diluted EPS
Diluted net income (loss)
Available to shareholders per common share$1.67 $(0.08) $(0.92) $(1.02)
Weighted average of outstanding common shares 49,802,993 49,740,407 49,926,533 49,820,185

MercadoLibre, Inc.Consolidated Statements of Cash FlowsFor the twelve months ended December 31, 2021 and 2020

Year Ended December 31,
2021 2020
Cash flows from operations:
Net income (loss)$83,304 $(707)
Adjustments to reconcile net income (loss) to net cash provided by operating activities:
Equity in earnings of unconsolidated entity 8,522
Unrealized devaluation loss, net 90,629 89,329
Impairment of digital assets 8,647
Depreciation and amortization 203,942 104,992
Accrued interest income (35,880) (45,593)
Non cash interest, convertible notes amortization of debt discount and amortization of debt issuance costs and other charges 86,038 15,033
Bad debt charges 435,314 132,944
Financial results on derivative instruments 429 (1,935)
Settlement of the call option (10,674)
Stock-based compensation expense - restricted shares 755 730
Sale of fixed assets and intangible assets 3,814
LTRP accrued compensation 88,698 129,575
Deferred income taxes (29,481) (70,315)
Changes in assets and liabilities:
Accounts receivable (26,331) 12,069
Credit cards receivable and other means of payments (1,062,794) (521,979)
Prepaid expenses (12,715) 16,204
Inventories (142,382) (106,981)
Other assets (174,682) (113,819)
Payables and accrued expenses 379,767 584,281
Funds payable to customers 808,754 900,513
Amounts payable due to credit and debit card transactions 309,078 37,126
Other liabilities (79,007) (34,586)
Interest received from investments 35,112 51,857
Net cash provided by operating activities 965,043 1,182,552
Cash flows from investing activities:
Purchase of investments (7,370,742) (5,199,875)
Proceeds from sale and maturity of investments 7,800,545 5,532,463
Payment for acquired businesses, net of cash acquired (50,615) (6,937)
Capital contributions in joint ventures (5,113)
Receipts from settlements of derivative instruments 6,345 17,779
Payment from settlements of derivative instruments (19,747) (4,136)
Receipts from the sale of fixed assets and intangible assets 274
Purchases of intangible assets (36,567) (93)
Changes in principal loans receivable, net (1,347,710) (344,608)
Purchases of property and equipment (572,929) (247,048)
Net cash used in investing activities (1,596,533) (252,181)
Cash flows from financing activities:
Purchase of convertible note capped calls (100,769) (306,789)
Excercise of Convertible Notes (3,137)
Payments on repurchase of the 2028 Notes (1,865,076)
Unwind of convertible note capped calls 396,739
Proceeds from loans payable and other financial liabilities 9,261,703 2,396,717
Payments on loans payable and other financing liabilities (6,781,612) (1,785,272)
Payment of finance lease obligations (16,524) (4,949)
Common Stock repurchased (485,886) (54,085)
Dividends paid of preferred stock (3,356)
Proceeds from issuance of common stock, net 1,519,545
Net cash provided by financing activities 1,924,983 242,266
Effect of exchange rate changes on cash, cash equivalents, restricted cash and cash equivalents (153,754) (115,837)
Net increase in cash, cash equivalents, restricted cash and cash equivalents 1,139,739 1,056,800
Cash, cash equivalents, restricted cash and cash equivalents, beginning of the year 2,508,224 1,451,424
Cash, cash equivalents, restricted cash and cash equivalents, end of the year$3,647,963 $2,508,224

Financial results of reporting segments

Three Months Ended December 31, 2021
Brazil Argentina Mexico Other Countries Total
Net revenues$1,127,152 $474,617 $392,289 $136,708 $2,130,766
Direct costs (1,063,045) (323,591) (371,770) (133,072) (1,891,478)
Direct contribution 64,107 151,026 20,519 3,636 239,288
Operating expenses and indirect costs of net revenues (215,972)
Income from operations 23,316
Other income (expenses):
Interest income and other financial gains 53,374
Interest expense and other financial losses (53,678)
Foreign currency losses (56,951)
Net Loss before income tax expense $(33,939)

Three Months Ended December 31, 2020
Brazil Argentina Mexico Other Countries Total
Net revenues$720,575 $323,451 $204,088 $79,190 $1,327,304
Direct costs (617,055) (242,855) (215,793) (70,676) (1,146,379)
Direct contribution 103,520 80,596 (11,705) 8,514 180,925
Operating expenses and indirect costs of net revenues (206,051)
Loss from operations (25,126)
Other income (expenses):
Interest income and other financial gains 22,648
Interest expense and other financial losses (31,607)
Foreign currency losses (9,930)
Net loss before income tax expense $(44,015)

Non-GAAP Financial Measures

To supplement our audited consolidated financial statements presented in accordance with U.S. GAAP, we present foreign exchange (“FX”) neutral measures as a non-GAAP measure. Reconciliation of this non-GAAP financial measure to the most comparable U.S. GAAP financial measure can be found in the tables below.

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.

We provide this non-GAAP financial measure to enhance overall understanding of our current financial performance and its prospects for the future, and we understand that this measure provides useful information to both Management and investors. In particular, we believe that FX neutral measures 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 2020 and applying them to the corresponding months in 2021, 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, these measures do 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-months period ended December 31, 2021:

Three-month Periods Ended December 31, (*)
As reported FX Neutral Measures As reported
(In millions, except percentages) 2021 2020 PercentageChange 2021 2020 PercentageChange
Net revenues $2,130.8 $1,327.3 60.5% $2,308.8 $1,327.3 73.9%
Cost of net revenues (1,277.6) (838.3) 52.4% (1,372.5) (838.3) 63.7%
Gross profit 853.2 489.0 74.5% 936.3 489.0 91.5%
Operating expenses (829.8) (514.2) 61.4% (897.0) (514.2) 74.5%
Income (loss) from operations 23.3 (25.1) 192.8% 39.2 (25.1) 256.2%

(*)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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