MercadoLibre, Inc. Reports Financial Results for First Quarter 2014
* Net Revenues of
* Income from operations grew to
* Net Income grew 73.1% in USD resulting in a $ 0.69 EPS.
Q1'14 Operational Highlights
-
Gross merchandise volume grew to
$1,797.3 million , a year-over-year growth of 15.0% in USD and 57.9% in local currencies. Items sold onMercadoLibre during the first quarter of 2014 increased 20.1% to 21.7 million. -
Total payment volume reached
$664.0 million , a year-over-year growth of 24.8% in USD and 63.5% in local currencies. Total payment transactions through MercadoPago increased 36.3% to 9.2 million.
This growth was sustained by our strategic initiatives:
-
Total payments penetration was up, with a strong push from on-platform which reached new highs in our total marketplace surpassing 60% of GMVe in
Brazil and 38% inArgentina . -
Shipping gained considerable ground, adoption in
Brazil went to 14% of SIe in March. - Mobile doubled its year-on-year penetration from March to March, from 7% to 14% of our GMVe, and our mobile app reached more than 10 million downloads by the end of March.
-
Verticals keep gaining share of GMVe in
Argentina andBrazil while we continue to on-board brands in both countries. Official stores more than doubled during this quarter. - Our customer experience efforts result in significant gains to our net promoter score.
Q1'14 Financial Highlights
-
Net revenues grew to
$115.4 million , a year-over-year growth of 12.3% in USD and 49.9% in local currencies. ExcludingVenezuela revenue growth was stable at 9.6% in USD and 38.6% in local currencies.Brazil , our biggest market, grew revenues by 30% in local currencies. -
Gross profit for the first quarter of 2014 was
$83.8 million . Gross profit margin was 72.7% up from 72.1% the first quarter of 2013, as scale in our customer support operations and lower withdrawal costs in MercadoPago Argentina offset higher payment processing fees due to strong TPV growth. -
Total operating expenses were
$49.8 million , 43.2% of net revenues, a decrease of 110 basis points from 44.3% last year's first quarter. Lower long term retention plan accrual and improved chargebacks drive year-over-year improvement. -
Income from operations grew to
$34.0 million , a year-over-year growth of 19.0% in USD and 67.8% in local currencies. Operating income margin was 29.5%, improving 166 basis points from 27.8% last year's first quarter. Excluding Venezuela Income from operations grew 4.6% in USD and 28.6% in local currencies. -
Our forex line saw a
$3.1 million gain mainly due to currency devaluation inArgentina where our US dollar denominated net assets appreciated, partially offset by currency devaluation inVenezuela (Sicad I*) depreciating our net monetary asset position in local currency. -
Net income before taxes was
$39.1 million a year-over-year growth of 54.2% in USD and 117% in local currencies. -
Blended tax rate for the quarter was 22.4%, as compared to 30.9% last year's first quarter. Excluding tax decrease resulting from
Venezuela devaluation, blended tax rate would have been 31.4%. -
Net income grew to
$30.3 million , a year-over-year growth of 73.1%. In local currencies this growth was 150.3%. ExcludingVenezuela , net income grew 16.3% in USD and 48.0% in local currencies. -
Earnings per share during Q1'14 were
$ 0.69 . Had forex loss and tax reduction resulting fromVenezuela's devaluation not occurred, earnings per share would have been$ 0.63 . -
Free cash flow, defined as cash from operating activities less payment for the acquisition of property, equipment, intangible assets and payment for acquired business net of cash acquired, was
$20.5 million .** -
We declared a quarterly dividend of
$0.166 cents per share, payable onJuly 15, 2014 to shareholders of record as of the close of business onJune 30, 2014 .
(*) Due to changes in Venezuelan regulation, since
(**) See note on "Non-GAAP Financial Measures"
The following table summarizes certain key performance metrics for the three months ended
| Three months ended |
2014 | 2013 | %YoY | %YoY Constant USD |
| Total confirmed registered users at the end of period | 103.7 | 85.7 | 21.1% | -- |
| New confirmed registered users during the period | 4.3 | 4.2 | 0.6% | -- |
| Gross merchandise volume | $ 1,797.3 | $ 1,563.3 | 15.0% | 57.9% |
| Items sold | 21.7 | 18.1 | 20.1% | -- |
| Total payments volume | $ 664.0 | $ 532.1 | 24.8% | 63.5% |
| Total payments transactions | 9.2 | 6.7 | 36.3% | -- |
Table of Year-on-Year Local Currency Revenue Growth Rates by Quarter
| YoY Growth rates at previous years exchange rates | |||||
| Consolidated Net Revenues | |||||
| Q1'13 | Q2'13 | Q3'13 | Q4'13 | Q1'14 | |
| Brazil | 28% | 22% | 28% | 29% | 30% |
| Argentina | 63% | 66% | 66% | 69% | 65% |
| Mexico | 15% | 19% | 19% | 20% | 9% |
| Venezuela | 49% | 68% | 92% | 104% | 116% |
| Others | 13% | 19% | 13% | 15% | 32% |
| Total | 36% | 38% | 45% | 50% | 50% |
Conference Call and Webcast
The Company will host a conference call and audio webcast on
Definition of Selected Operational Metrics
Total confirmed registered users – Measure of the cumulative number of users who have registered on the
New confirmed registered users – Measure of the number of new users who have registered on the
Gross merchandise volume – Measure of the total U.S. dollar sum of all transactions completed through the
Items sold – Measure of the number of items sold/purchased through the
Total payment volume – Measure of total U.S. dollar sum of all transactions paid for using MercadoPago.
Total payment transactions – Measure of the number of all transactions completed using MercadoPago.
Operating margin – Defined as income from operations as a percentage of net revenues.
Blended tax rate – Defined as income and asset tax expense as a percentage of income before income and assets tax.
Net income margin – Defined as net income as a percentage of net revenues.
Free
Local Currency Growth Rates – Calculated by using the average monthly exchange rate for each month during the previous year and applying it to the corresponding month in the current year, so as to calculate what the growth would have been had exchange rates been the same throughout both periods.
About
Founded in 1999,
MercadoLibre.com serves millions of users and creates a market for a wide variety of goods and services in an easy, safe and efficient way. The site is among the top 50 in the world in terms of page views and is the leading retail platform in unique visitors in the major countries in which it operates according to metrics provided by
For more information about the company visit: http://investor.mercadolibre.com.
The
| Consolidated balance sheets | ||
2014 |
2013 |
|
| Assets | ||
| Current assets: | ||
| Cash and cash equivalents | $ 131,139,549 | $ 140,285,104 |
| Short-term investments | 87,390,844 | 76,593,214 |
| Accounts receivable, net | 30,331,297 | 25,884,260 |
| Credit cards receivables, net | 54,322,496 | 52,045,851 |
| Prepaid expenses | 4,554,266 | 3,836,081 |
| Deferred tax assets | 20,809,295 | 16,030,880 |
| Other assets | 8,663,385 | 11,488,845 |
| Total current assets | 337,211,132 | 326,164,235 |
| Non-current assets: | ||
| Long-term investments | 45,001,998 | 45,719,737 |
| Property and equipment, net | 129,464,927 | 131,371,909 |
| Goodwill | 51,959,430 | 55,101,218 |
| Intangible assets, net | 6,393,604 | 6,591,585 |
| Deferred tax assets | 2,906,037 | 3,014,905 |
| Other assets | 24,921,540 | 24,399,184 |
| Total non-current assets | 260,647,536 | 266,198,538 |
| Total assets | $ 597,858,668 | $ 592,362,773 |
| Liabilities and Equity | ||
| Current liabilities: | ||
| Accounts payable and accrued expenses | $ 36,582,107 | $ 34,405,333 |
| Funds payable to customers | 132,368,104 | 129,038,663 |
| Salaries and social security payable | 26,094,290 | 23,182,811 |
| Taxes payable | 16,788,250 | 17,854,110 |
| Loans payable and other financial liabilities | 7,677,659 | 13,370,823 |
| Dividends payable | 7,329,546 | 6,313,869 |
| Total current liabilities | 226,839,956 | 224,165,609 |
| Non-current liabilities: | ||
| Salaries and social security payable | 6,054,510 | 9,185,269 |
| Loans payable and other financial liabilities | 1,812,047 | 2,489,819 |
| Deferred tax liabilities | 5,511,531 | 5,339,359 |
| Other liabilities | 3,775,268 | 3,699,109 |
| Total non-current liabilities | 17,153,356 | 20,713,556 |
| Total liabilities | $ 243,993,312 | $ 244,879,165 |
| Commitments and contingencies | ||
| Redeemable noncontrolling interest | $ 4,000,000 | $ 4,000,000 |
| Equity: | ||
|
Common stock, |
$ 44,154 | $ 44,153 |
| Additional paid-in capital | 120,595,008 | 121,562,193 |
| Treasury stock | -- | (1,012,216) |
| Retained earnings | 333,404,534 | 310,345,448 |
| Accumulated other comprehensive loss | (104,178,340) | (87,455,970) |
| Total Equity | 349,865,356 | 343,483,608 |
| Total Liabilities, Redeemable Noncontrolling Interest and Equity | $ 597,858,668 | $ 592,362,773 |
| Consolidated statements of income | ||
| Three Months Ended |
||
| 2014 | 2013 | |
| Net revenues | $ 115,382,319 | $ 102,725,747 |
| Cost of net revenues | (31,539,665) | (28,649,167) |
| Gross profit | 83,842,654 | 74,076,580 |
| Operating expenses: | ||
| Product and technology development | (12,257,198) | (9,382,389) |
| Sales and marketing | (22,351,958) | (22,337,937) |
| General and administrative | (15,232,411) | (13,785,070) |
| Total operating expenses | (49,841,567) | (45,505,396) |
| Income from operations | 34,001,087 | 28,571,184 |
| Other income (expenses): | ||
| Interest income and other financial gains | 3,035,630 | 3,394,006 |
| Interest expense and other financial losses | (1,027,180) | (360,352) |
| Foreign currency gains (losses) | 3,093,471 | (6,249,714) |
| Other losses, net | -- | (3,733) |
| Net income before income / asset tax expense | 39,103,008 | 25,351,391 |
| Income / asset tax expense | (8,775,055) | (7,828,800) |
| Net income | $ 30,327,953 | $ 17,522,591 |
| Less: Net Income attributable to Redeemable | ||
| Noncontrolling Interest | 63,980 | 42,338 |
|
Net income attributable to |
$ 30,263,973 | $ 17,480,253 |
| Three Months Ended |
||
| 2014 | 2013 | |
| Basic EPS | ||
|
Basic net income attributable to |
||
| Shareholders per common share | $ 0.69 | $ 0.40 |
| Weighted average of outstanding common shares | 44,153,818 | 44,151,323 |
| Diluted EPS | ||
|
Diluted net income attributable to |
||
| Shareholders per common share | $ 0.69 | $ 0.40 |
| Weighted average of outstanding common shares | 44,153,818 | 44,151,357 |
| Consolidated statements of cash flows | ||
| Three Months Ended |
||
| 2014 | 2013 | |
| Cash flows from operations: | ||
|
Net income attributable to |
$ 30,263,973 | $ 17,480,253 |
| Adjustments to reconcile net income to net cash provided by operating activities: | ||
| Net income attributable to Redeemable Noncontrolling Interest | 63,980 | 42,338 |
|
Net Devaluation (Gain) Loss in |
(2,657,792) | 6,420,929 |
| Depreciation and amortization | 3,519,100 | 2,621,339 |
| Accrued interest | (2,019,040) | (2,531,301) |
| LTRP accrued compensation | 765,775 | 1,710,752 |
| Deferred income taxes | (4,675,345) | (140,238) |
| Changes in assets and liabilities: | ||
| Accounts receivable | (9,409,832) | (994,003) |
| Credit Card Receivables | (9,870,986) | (5,734,899) |
| Prepaid expenses | (961,907) | (1,069,904) |
| Other assets | 924,587 | (4,595,498) |
| Accounts payable and accrued expenses | 11,754,682 | 2,243,694 |
| Funds payable to customers | 7,365,588 | 8,854,986 |
| Other liabilities | 318,251 | 2,297,188 |
| Interest received from investments | 2,245,543 | 3,485,861 |
| Net cash provided by operating activities | 27,626,577 | 30,091,497 |
| Cash flows from investing activities: | ||
| Purchase of investments | (386,755,370) | (136,522,055) |
| Proceeds from sale and maturity of investments | 379,720,253 | 146,413,859 |
| Payment for acquired businesses, net of cash acquired | -- | (3,224,162) |
| Purchases of intangible assets | (144,479) | -- |
| Purchases of property and equipment | (6,966,127) | (2,861,295) |
| Net cash (used in) provided by investing activities | (14,145,724) | 3,806,347 |
| Cash flows from financing activities: | ||
| Payments on loans payable and other financial liabilities | (582,157) | -- |
| Dividends paid | (6,313,869) | (4,812,396) |
| Stock options exercised | -- | 3,020 |
| Net cash used in financing activities | (6,896,026) | (4,809,376) |
| Effect of exchange rate changes on cash and cash equivalents | (15,730,383) | (8,410,089) |
| Net (decrease) increase in cash and cash equivalents | (9,145,555) | 20,678,379 |
| Cash and cash equivalents, beginning of the period | 140,285,104 | 101,489,002 |
| Cash and cash equivalents, end of the period | $ 131,139,549 | $ 122,167,381 |
| Financial results of reporting segments | ||||||
| Three Months Ended |
||||||
| Other Countries | Total | |||||
| Net revenues | $ 52,434,098 | $ 8,083,185 | $ 7,546,705 | |||
| Direct costs | (30,516,894) | (16,915,878) | (4,577,716) | (5,634,981) | (3,914,533) | (61,560,002) |
| Direct contribution | 21,917,204 | 11,045,866 | 3,505,469 | 13,721,606 | 3,632,172 | 53,822,317 |
| Operating expenses and indirect costs of net revenues | (19,821,230) | |||||
| Income from operations | 34,001,087 | |||||
| Other income (expenses): | ||||||
| Interest income and other financial gains | 3,035,630 | |||||
| Interest expense and other financial losses | (1,027,180) | |||||
| Foreign currency gain | 3,093,471 | |||||
| Other losses, net | -- | |||||
| Net income before income / asset tax expense | $ 39,103,008 | |||||
| Three Months Ended |
||||||
| Other Countries | Total | |||||
| Net revenues | $ 47,765,683 | $ 7,790,301 | $ 6,418,465 | |||
| Direct costs | (30,993,544) | (13,475,710) | (4,116,828) | (6,008,108) | (2,867,981) | (57,462,171) |
| Direct contribution | 16,772,139 | 12,145,037 | 3,673,473 | 9,122,443 | 3,550,484 | 45,263,576 |
| Operating expenses and indirect costs of net revenues | (16,692,392) | |||||
| Income from operations | 28,571,184 | |||||
| Other income (expenses): | ||||||
| Interest income and other financial gains | 3,394,006 | |||||
| Interest expense and other financial losses | (360,352) | |||||
| Foreign currency loss | (6,249,714) | |||||
| Other losses, net | (3,733) | |||||
| Net income before income / asset tax expense | $ 25,351,391 | |||||
Non-GAAP Financial Measures
To supplement our interim condensed consolidated financial statements presented in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles in
These non-GAAP measures should not be considered in isolation or as a substitute for measures of performance prepared in accordance with GAAP and may be different from non-GAAP measures used by other companies. In addition, these non-GAAP measures are 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 GAAP. These non-GAAP financial measures should only be used to evaluate our results of operations in conjunction with the most comparable GAAP financial measures.
Reconciliation of these non-GAAP financial measures to the most comparable GAAP financial measures can be found in the tables included in this press release.
Non-GAAP financial measures are provided to enhance investors' overall understanding of our current financial performance. Specifically, we believe that free cash flow provides useful information to both management and investors by excluding payments for the acquisition of property, equipment, of intangible assets and of acquired businesses net of cash acquired, that may not be indicative of our core operating results. In addition, we report free cash flows to investors because we believe that the inclusion of this measure provides consistency in our financial reporting.
Free cash flow represents cash from operating activities less payment for the acquisition of property, equipment and intangible assets and acquired businesses net of cash acquired. We consider free cash flow to be a liquidity measure that provides useful information to management and investors about the amount of cash generated by our operations after the purchase of property, equipment, of intangible assets and of acquired businesses net of cash acquired. A limitation of the utility of free cash flow as a measure of financial performance is that it does not represent the total increase or decrease in our cash balance for the period.
Reconciliation of Operating Cash Flows to Free Cash Flows:
| Three Months Ended |
||
| 2014 | 2013 | |
| Net Cash provided by Operating Activities | $ 27.6 | $ 30.1 |
| Payment for acquired businesses, net of cash acquired | -- | (3.2) |
| Purchase of intangible assets | (0.1) | -- |
| Purchases of property and equipment | (7.0) | (2.9) |
| Free cash flows | $ 20.5 | $ 24.0 |
| The table above may not total due to rounding. | ||
Moreover, we believe that adjusted net income before income / asset tax, adjusted income / asset tax, adjusted net income, adjusted blended tax rate and adjusted earnings per share provide useful information to both management and investors by excluding the foreign exchange loss attributable to the devaluation in
| Three-months period ended (**) | ||
2014 |
2013 |
|
| Net income before income / asset tax expense | $ 39.1 | $ 25.4 |
|
Devaluation loss in |
1.3 | 6.4 |
| Adjusted Net income before income / asset tax expense | $ 40.4 | $ 31.7 |
| Income and asset tax expense | $ (8.8) | $ (7.8) |
|
Income tax effect on devaluation loss in |
(3.9) | (0.5) (1) |
| Adjusted Income and asset tax | $ (12.7) | $ (8.4) |
| Net Income | $ 30.3 | $ 17.5 |
|
Devaluation loss in |
1.3 | 6.4 |
|
Income tax effect on devaluation loss in |
(3.9) | (0.5) (1) |
| Adjusted Net Income | $ 27.7 | $ 23.4 |
| Adjusted Blended Tax Rate | 31.4% | 26.4% |
| Weighted average of outstanding common shares | 44,153,818 | 44,151,323 |
| Adjusted Earnings per share | $ 0.63 | $ 0.53 |
| (**) Stated in millions of U.S. dollars. | ||
|
(1) Income tax charge related to the |
||
| The table above may not total due to rounding. | ||
Venezuelan currency status
During
Foreign Currency Sensitivity Analysis – Venezuela Segment
In order to assist investors in their overall understanding of the impact on our Venezuelan segment reporting of a hypothetical additional Venezuelan devaluation, we developed a scenario that considers an exchange rate of 50 BsF per U.S. dollar. Under this analysis, the assumed exchange rate was applied starting on January 1, 2014. These disclosures may help investors to project sensitivities, on segment information captions, to devaluations of whatever order of magnitude they choose by simple arithmetic calculations. The information is just a scenario and does not represent a forward-looking statement about our expectations or projections related to future events in
The information disclosed below does not include any inflation effect, nor the one-time devaluation impact related to the assumed devaluation or any other effect derived from the assumed devaluation. The information below should not be considered in isolation or as a substitute for measures of performance prepared in accordance with GAAP. In addition, this information is not based on any comprehensive set of accounting rules or principles.
The evolution of the Venezuelan economy and any future governmental interventions in the Venezuelan economy are beyond our ability to control or predict. New events could happen in the future in
The table below provides specific sensitivity information of our Venezuelan segment reporting for the period indicated assuming an exchange rate of 50 BsF per U.S. dollar, applied for the period starting on January 1, 2014 to
| Three-month period ended |
||||||||||||
| Actual (*) | ||||||||||||
| Other Countries | Total | |||||||||||
| Net revenues | $ 52,434,098 | $ 27,961,744 | $ 8,083,185 | $ 19,356,587 | $ 7,546,705 | $ 115,382,319 | ||||||
| Direct costs | $ (30,516,894) | $ (16,915,878) | $ (4,577,716) | $ (5,634,981) | $ (3,914,533) | $ (61,560,002) | ||||||
| Direct contribution | $ 21,917,204 | $ 11,045,866 | $ 3,505,469 | $ 13,721,606 | $ 3,632,172 | $ 53,822,317 | ||||||
| Direct Contribution Margin % | 41.8% | 39.5% | 43.4% | 70.9% | 48.1% | 46.6% | ||||||
| Operating expenses and indirect costs of net revenues | $ (19,821,230) | |||||||||||
| Income from operations | $ 34,001,087 | |||||||||||
| Three-month period ended |
||||||||||||
| Sensitivity (**) | ||||||||||||
| Other Countries | Total | |||||||||||
| Net revenues | $ 52,434,098 | $ 27,961,744 | $ 8,083,185 | $ 3,820,537 | $ 7,546,705 | $ 99,846,269 | ||||||
| Direct costs | $ (30,516,894) | $ (16,915,878) | $ (4,577,716) | $ (1,808,818) | $ (3,914,533) | $ (57,733,839) | ||||||
| Direct contribution | $ 21,917,204 | $ 11,045,866 | $ 3,505,469 | $ 2,011,719 | $ 3,632,172 | $ 42,112,430 | ||||||
| Direct Contribution Margin % | 41.8% | 39.5% | 43.4% | 52.7% | 48.1% | 42.2% | ||||||
| Operating expenses and indirect costs of net revenues | $ (19,821,230) | |||||||||||
| Income from operations | $ 22,291,200 | |||||||||||
| (*) As reported | ||||||||||||
| (**) Computing a hypothetical devaluation of the Venezuelan Segment (50 BsF per U.S. dollar). | ||||||||||||
CONTACT:MercadoLibre, Inc. Investor Relations [email protected]http://investor.mercadolibre.com
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