Mercado Libre posts Q1 net loss of US$34 million; revenue soars 111%

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Mercado Libre on Wednesday, May 5, reported a first quarter 2021 net loss of US$34 million, or US$0.68 loss per share. The quarter closed with a pre-tax profit of US$9.5 million, compared to a loss of US$16.7 million over the same period in 2020.

Net revenue for the first quarter stood at US$1.4 billion, a year-on-year increase of 111.4% in dollars and 158.4% in constant currency. The operation in Brazil represents 56% of the company’s total net revenue, reaching US$768.7 million, a 93% increase in dollar and 139% in real, year-on-year.

Gross Merchandise Volume (GMV) reached US$6.1 billion, representing a year-on-year growth of 77.4% in dollar and 114.3% in constant currency – 72.9% of this amount comes from transactions made on mobile devices.

Brazil was one of the highlights during the quarter, with 84% growth in sales volume, in constant currency, with a 8 percentage point sequential advance against Q4 2020. A total of 222 million items were sold, representing 110.2% year-on-year growth.

The company reports that 208.1 million items were shipped through Mercado Envios, the company’s logistics platform. The number represents an increase of 130.7% over the same period last year. In Brazil, the logistics network’s penetration reached 83% of total deliveries in the period, versus 79% in the fourth quarter 2020.

In addition, Mercado Pago’s total payment volume (TPV) processed in the quarter stood at US$14.7 billion, a year-on-year increase of 81.8% in dollars and 129.2% in constant currency. There were 630.1 million transactions in the period, representing an increase of 116.7%.

Total off-platform payment volume reached US$8.5 billion, with a year-on-year increase of 82.5% in dollars and 136.4% in constant currency. There were 478.9 million payments in the quarter, representing 120.4% year-on-year growth.

Source: Infomoney