Net Revenues of
Fourth Quarter 2021 Business Highlights
- Considering our entire ecosystem, Unique active users reached 82.2 million.
- Gross merchandise volume (“GMV”) grew to
$8.0 billion , representing an increase of 21.2% in USD and 32.2% on an FX neutral basis. - Successful items sold reached 287.9 million, increasing by 25.5% year-over-year.
- Live listings offered on MercadoLibre’s marketplace reached almost 300 million.
- Mobile gross merchandise volume reached 75.5% of GMV.
Mercado Envios shipped 275.9 million items during the quarter, representing a 29.0% year-over-year increase. Managed network penetration was 89.5% in the fourth quarter.- Total payment volume (“TPV”) through
Mercado Pago reached$24.2 billion , a year-over-year increase of 52.1% in USD and 72.8% on an FX neutral basis. Total payment transactions increased 56.1% year-over-year, totaling 1,028.9 million transactions for the quarter. - Off-platform TPV grew 75.1% year-over-year in USD and 96.5% year-over-year on an FX neutral basis, reaching
$16.1 billion , while payment transactions reached 849.9 million, a year-over-year increase of 69.4%. - Acquiring TPV, which includes On-Platform, Online Payments, MPoS and QR payments, was
$17.2 billion , growing 51.1% on an FX neutral basis. - Digital accounts TPV, which includes wallet payments, P2P transfers between
Mercado Pago accounts and Cards transactions (debit, prepaid and credit), was$7.1 billion , growing 138.3% on an FX neutral basis. - Unique fintech active users reached 34.5 million.
- Our asset management product,
Mercado Fondo , has now over$1.2 billion under management and in the fourth quarter had 22.3 million users acrossLatin America . - Mercado Credito’s portfolio is now almost
$1.7 billion , over 3x its size compared to the fourth quarter of 2020.
Fourth Quarter 2021 Financial Highlights
- Fourth Quarter 2021 Financial Highlights
- Net revenues for the fourth quarter were
$2.1 billion , a year-over-year increase of 60.5% in USD and 73.9% on an FX neutral basis. - Commerce revenues increased 55.6% year-over-year in USD reaching
$1,357.8 million , while Fintech revenues increased 70.1% year-over-year in USD reaching$773.0 million . - Gross profit was
$853.2 million with a margin of 40.0%, compared to 36.8% in the fourth quarter of 2020. - Total operating expenses were
$829.8 million , an increase of 61.4% year-over-year in USD. As a percentage of revenues, operating expenses were 38.9%, mostly in line with the 38.7% in the fourth quarter of 2020. - Income from operations was
$23.3 million , compared to a loss of$25.1 million during the same period of the prior year. As a percentage of revenues, income from operations was 1.1%. - Interest income and other financial gains was
$53.4 million , a 135.7% increase year-over-year. We incurred$53.7 million in interest expense and other financial losses this quarter, an 69.8% increase year-over-year. - We had foreign currency losses of
$56.9 million , mainly related to higher foreign exchange losses attributable to our own common stock acquisition in the Argentine market at a price that reflects the additional cost of accessing US dollars through an indirect mechanism due to restrictions imposed by the Argentine government for buying US dollars at the official exchange rate. - Net loss before income tax expense was
$33.9 million , a 22.9% decrease from the$44.0 million net loss during the fourth quarter of 2020. - Income tax expense was
$3.6 million , mainly as a result of income tax expense as a consequence of pre-tax gains in our Argentine segment offset by income tax benefit in our Brazilian segment related to higher deferred tax assets due to tax loss carry forwards. - Net loss was
$46.1 million , resulting in net loss per share of$0.92 .
The following table summarizes certain key performance metrics for the twelve- and three-months periods ended
Year Ended |
Three-month Periods Ended |
|||||||||||
(in millions) | 2021 | 2020 | 2021 | 2020 | ||||||||
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 Revenues |
Q4’20 | Q1’21 | Q2’21 | Q3’21 | Q4’21 | |||||
68 | % | 93 | % | 104 | % | 74 | % | 51 | % | |
144 | % | 124 | % | 53 | % | 38 | % | 47 | % | |
141 | % | 143 | % | 105 | % | 94 | % | 92 | % | |
Year-over-year Local Currency Revenue Growth Rates by Quarter
Consolidated Net Revenues |
Q4’20 | Q1’21 | Q2’21 | Q3’21 | Q4’21 | |||||
120 | % | 139 | % | 101 | % | 69 | % | 61 | % | |
229 | % | 223 | % | 112 | % | 83 | % | 84 | % | |
155 | % | 148 | % | 76 | % | 76 | % | 96 | % | |
Conference Call and Webcast
The Company will host a conference call and audio webcast on
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
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
Total payment transactions – Measure of the number of all transactions paid for using
Total volume of payments on marketplace – Measure of the total
Total payment volume – Measure of total
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
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
Founded in 1999,
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
Forward-Looking Statements
Any statements herein regarding
Consolidated Balance Sheets
(In thousands of
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 | |||||
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, |
|||||||
50,418,980 and 49,869,727 shares issued and outstanding at |
|||||||
2021 and |
$ | 50 | $ | 50 | |||
Additional paid-in capital | 2,439,345 | 1,860,502 | |||||
(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 |
Consolidated Statements of Income
For the twelve and three-month periods ended
(In thousands of
Year Ended |
Three Months Ended |
||||||||||||||
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 |
Year Ended |
Three Months Ended |
|||||||||||||
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 | ||||||||||
Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows
For the twelve months ended
Year Ended |
|||||||
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 |
|||||||||||||||||||
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 |
|||||||||||||||||||
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
This non-GAAP measure should not be considered in isolation or as a substitute for measures of performance prepared in accordance with
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
Three-month Periods Ended |
||||||||||||||||||||||
As reported | FX Neutral Measures | As reported | ||||||||||||||||||||
(In millions, except percentages) | 2021 | 2020 | Percentage Change |
2021 | 2020 | Percentage Change |
||||||||||||||||
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:
Investor Relations
http://investor.mercadolibre.com

Source: MercadoLibre, Inc.