The numbers for the third quarter confirmed the momentum that Mercado Libre capitalized on in its business from the new consumer habits boosted by the coronavirus pandemic. After a first semester on the rise, Marcos Galperin's company reported yesterday that it obtained profits of US $ 83.1 million for its activity between July and September.
It did so by presenting its balance of operations to the US SEC, where it reported a quarterly turnover of US $ 1,115.7 million, an amount that more than doubled its income in the same period of 2019. Specifically, it is an increase of 148.5 % year-on-year. As detailed, the electronic commerce segment represented US $ 724.5 million (grew 109.3%), while the fintech unit contributed US $ 391.2 million (grew 52.3%).
The success of the company's business confirmed its place as the most valuable firm in Argentina. On Wall Street, its shares are trading at all-time highs. According to these figures, the company today shows a valuation of US $ 61,341 million, and surpasses the Brazilian Vale (US $ 56,378 million) in the first position of the firms with the largest capitalization in Latin America.
Although it was founded and has its headquarters in Buenos Aires, Mercado Libre supports its business in Brazil, where it obtains more than 60% of its turnover. There, it recently presented its fleet of four aircraft (they are operated by the cargo unit of four private airlines) to shore up its logistics network. In that country, its turnover in the quarter grew 57% year-on-year in dollars.
In its other two key markets, Argentina and Mexico, it registered increases of 145% and 111%, respectively, although the billing amounts are lower.
As in previous months, the e-commerce business was one of the areas with strong growth, leveraged by new consumer habits and the adoption of this modality by users after the isolation measures and restrictions associated with quarantine.
According to Mercado Libre data, 205.7 million items were sold in the period (the number doubled compared to 2019) with a total value of US $ 59 billion (increased by 62.1% in dollars). Another data that stands out in the company's report is that the total volume of products purchased from mobile devices quadrupled (increased 283.8%).
Another of the company's booms has to do with its financial unit, Mercado Pago. In the quarter, online payments completed tripled, and this is associated with the acceleration of electronic commerce. According to the balance, the platform doubled its volume of processed payments (increased by 91% year-on-year) and reached US $ 14,500 million in 559.7 million transactions.
The growth rate in the use of the wallet from mobile devices was higher. In total, the amount of payments made on these platforms quadrupled, reaching US $ 3.2 billion, while the total number of users doubled: at the regional level, 13.7 million accounts used Mercado Pago from a phone or a tablet.
In the period, Mercado Libre added 16.8 million new registered users to its platform. According to the balance sheet, the total number of active accounts in the period reached 76.1 million, an increase of 92% compared to 39.6 million a year ago.
In the first nine months of the year, Mercado Libre accumulated a total turnover of US $ 2,646.1 million, an increase of 63% in dollars compared to the same period in 2019. Thus, it reversed its business scenario. Between January and September of last year, the firm accumulated losses of US $ 84.3 million. Now, the scenario is reversed, and records a profit of US $ 152.8 million.
Fuente: https://www.lanacion.com.ar/economia/negocios/boom-mercado-libre-reporto-ganancia-millonaria-tercer-nid2499868
