Mercado Libre: how it managed to achieve record profits and turnover while other giants are in crisis

Marcos Galperin, founder of MercadoLibre, celebrated yesterday results which the e-commerce giant told shareholders is approaching the fourth quarter of 2022. The numbers exceeded market forecasts, with record profits and salesthe fact that in the exclusive explained Chronicler company president Juan Martín de la Serna.

The MercadoLibre's revenue was $3.002 million (when analysts were predicting 2.96 billion USD) and were 56% higher than in the fourth quarter of the previous year. For the full year, sales exceeded USD 10 billion, with a profit of almost USD 165 million in the last quarter.

MercadoLibre also scored a yes earnings per share of $3.25 (35% more than expected $2.40). The company's Nasdaq stock rose more than 6% in the aftermarket on the day of the announcement.

The good news for the company was driven by several factors. One of the most relevant was the significant growth of fintech Market paymentit multiplied by five income in the last 3 years.

The most important data from the MercadoLibre balance sheet

• Over the past 12 months, MercadoLibre has processed more than $1 billion in payments, achieved more than 10 billion dollars in net income (+49% compared to the previous year) and achieved more than 1 billion deliveries through Mercado Envíos.
• He the amount of delivered goods increased by 35% during the fourth quarter of 2022. It is accompanied by a faster delivery speed, an improvement in the logistics strategy in the region (especially in Brazil, Mexico and Chile).
• He the total volume of payments recorded an increase of 45% compared to the previous year. The company itself pointed out that they managed to reach more than 44 million unique active users at the end of the last quarter of 2022, which is a record number.
• Total assets under management (AUM) were $1.9 billion, an increase of 57.5% compared to the same period last year.

This is also shown by the balance sheet data Argentina remains the second most important market for the companywith a contribution of 23.7% to the total annual income.

The country has overtaken Mexico, which contributes 17.7% of revenue. While, Brazil remains the most relevant geographygenerating 53.8% of MercadoLibre's total revenue in 2022.

With these results, MercadoLibre showed how it managed to successfully navigate the macroeconomic instability in the region, which also had a significant impact on the technology sector, where giants like Google and Amazon were forced to downsize their structures.

Exclusive: The reasons for MercadoLibre's record results, according to its own CEO

As De la Serna explained Chroniclerone of the keys to MercadoLibre's success is sustainability in the company's project, without venturing into large projects outside the core and based on uncertain funding.

"We continue to invest in a year that was very difficult for everyone, even with many companies laying off people. We made decisions that were appropriate at all times without being drasticquite the opposite," De la Serna said.

The number one in Argentina added: "Today we have to be in the best moment in the history of MercadoLibre. Even in times of an already completely illiquid world, the company has funds to invest. We have a market position where we have been gaining market share throughout the year, even in this highly competitive sector with large companies."

"We were able to see in time the model we implemented, which is growth with profitability," said De la Serna, also noting development of the financial side of the company. "Mercado Pago, by far, continues to consolidate as the most important digital option and we continue there offering additional services.