SAO PAULO (Reuters) – South American e-commerce giant MercadoLibre reported on Wednesday a 113% rise in its second-quarter net income from a year earlier to $261.9 million, amid higher sales volume and an increase in users.
The company, with presence in over 18 countries across Latin America, saw its net revenue rise 57.3% in constant currency to $3.4 billion.
Over the quarter, MercadoLibre said it added 8.1 million new users across its operations, bringing its total active user base to 108.6 million.
Operating income rose 123.7% in dollar terms, reaching $558 million, while its operating margin was 16.3% compared to 9.6% a year ago, boosted by performances in Brazil and Mexico.
Earnings per share for the group were ahead of analysts’ $4.54 forecast, hitting $5.22.
At its fintech unit, revenues grew 48.4% in local currency to $1.5 billion, fueled by an 18.3% growth of active Mercado Pago users. Total payment volume jumped 96.6% in constant currency to $42 billion.
MercadoLibre said that a total of 318.5 million items were shipped across Latin America in the quarter, marking a 20.6% growth year-on-year.
“Rapid top line growth and margin expansion were broad-based across geographies and business units,” Chief Financial Officer Pedro Arnt said in a statement.
Arnt added that the company intends to use “some of the headroom” created by its operating leverage to “lean into certain areas of the business” during the remaining of the year.
The company’s loan portfolio meanwhile rose over 21% and reached $3.3 billion in the quarter, as the period was marked by good profitability and default rate remained stable in operations with major exposure until 90 days.
Gross merchandise volume (GMV), a key metric in the e-commerce industry, was up 47.2% in constant currency to hit $10.5 billion.
(Reporting by Andre Romani; Writing by Carolina Pulice; Editing by Brendan O’Boyle)
