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MercadoLibre, Inc. Reports Financial Results for Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2007

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PrimeNewswire
4:01 p.m. 03/05/2008


, Mar 5, 2008 (PrimeNewswire via COMTEX) -- Fourth quarter revenue increases 73.9 percent to $26.9 million -- Fourth quarter operating income margin increases to 27.1 percent on Income from Operations of $7.3 million -- Fourth quarter net income increases 188.5 percent to $5.3 million

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina, March 5, 2008 (PRIME NEWSWIRE) -- MercadoLibre, Inc. (MELI) ( http://www.mercadolibre.com ), host of the largest online trading and payments platform in Latin America, today reported financial results for the fourth quarter and full year ended December 31, 2007.

Marcos Galperin, President and Chief Executive Officer of MercadoLibre, Inc. commented, "2007 was a year of significant achievements and milestones for MercadoLibre, the highlight of which was our successful transition to a publicly-traded company listed on The Nasdaq Stock Market in the United States. Throughout the year, we further strengthened our leadership position in e-commerce delivering strong operational and financial performance. Our robust performance continued into the fourth quarter as we delivered revenue growth of 73.9% and operating income margins of 27.1%. Growth rates were strong across all of our business units as well as all of our key geographies. Clearly, we are continuing to benefit from the positive growth trends influencing internet, broadband and PC penetration rates in Latin America, and we believe this course will persist for many years to come."

Financial Results

Fourth Quarter Results

MercadoLibre reported consolidated net revenues for the three months ended December 31, 2007 of $26.9 million, representing a quarterly year over year growth rate of 73.9%. Revenue growth was driven by strong results in both the marketplace and payments businesses. Marketplace revenues grew 61.5% to $21.1 million while Payments revenues grew 141.1% to $5.8 million.

Gross profit grew 75.6% over fourth quarter 2006 to $20.7 million, representing gross profit margins, defined as gross profits as a percentage of revenues, of 77.1%. Income from operations grew 260.0% for the same period to $7.3 million. Operating income margin, defined as income from operations as a percentage of revenues, for the fourth quarter was 27.1%.

Net income for the three-month period was $5.3 million, an increase of 188.5% over the $1.8 million of net income for same period of 2006.

Full Year Results

Revenue for the full year ended December 31, 2007 increased 63.5% to $85.1 million compared with $52.1 million for the full year ended December 31, 2006. Marketplace revenues for the full year 2007 grew 55.4% to $69.5 million over 2006 while Payments revenues grew 112.9% to $15.6 million.

Gross profit increased 65.4% to $66.1 million from $40.0 million from the prior year, representing a gross profit margin of 77.7% for 2007. Income from operations increased 287.8% to $20.9 million from $5.4 million for the year ended December 31, 2006. Operating income margin for the full year was up to 24.6% from 10.4% for the previous year.

Net income for the full year ended December 31, 2007 was $9.7 million, compared to $1.1 million during 2006, an increase of 804.1%.

Mr. Galperin concluded, "As we look forward to 2008, we expect to build on the momentum generated over the past year. Our progress in adapting to web 2.0, as well as our other efforts in enhancing our users' overall experience, positions us well for the long-term. Additionally, we intend to leverage our leadership position and the industry dynamics in Latin America to further drive top-line growth and sustain margins throughout the year. Our focus will remain on providing our users with a superior and highly-innovative e-commerce experience, while delivering value to our shareholders."

Key Performance Metrics

The following are highlights on certain key performance metrics for the quarter ended December 31, 2007.

Registered Users -- New confirmed registered users for the three-month period ended December 31, 2007 were 1.6 million. Total confirmed registered users increased to 24.9 million as of December 31, 2007, an increase of 37.1% over the 18.2 million users registered as of December 31, 2006.

Transaction volume -- Gross merchandise volume was $461.0 million for the fourth quarter of 2007, a 40.2% increase from gross merchandise volume of $328.8 million for the same period during 2006. Successful items sold through MercadoLibre totaled 4.8 million during the fourth quarter of 2007, up 17.9% from the 4.1 million successful items sold during the same quarter of 2006. Total payment volume was $56.8 million during the three-month period ending December 31, 2007, a growth of 86.8% over total payment volume of $30.4 million for the same period of 2006.

Conference Call and Webcast

MercadoLibre will host a conference call to discuss results for the quarter and year ending December 31, 2007 on Wednesday, March 5, 2008 at 4:30 p.m. Eastern Time. The conference call may be accessed by dialing [phone]. A live webcast of the conference call can be accessed at the company's investor relations website at http://investor.mercadolibre.com/ . An archive will be available for one week following the conclusion of the conference call.

Definition of Selected Operational Metrics

New confirmed registered users -- Measure of the number of new users who have registered on the MercadoLibre marketplace and confirmed their registration.

Total confirmed registered users -- Measure of the cumulative number of users who have registered on the MercadoLibre marketplace and confirmed their registration.

Gross merchandise volume -- Measure of the total U.S. dollar sum of all transactions completed through the MercadoLibre marketplace, excluding motor vehicles, vessels, aircraft, real estate, and services.

Successful items -- Measure of the number of items sold/purchased through the MercadoLibre marketplace.

Total payment volume -- Measure of total U.S. dollar sum of all transactions paid for using MercadoPago.

Take rate -- Total net revenues as a percentage of gross merchandise volume.

About MercadoLibre

MercadoLibre is the largest online trading platform in Latin America. We are market leaders in e-commerce in each of Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Mexico, Peru, Uruguay and Venezuela, based on unique visitors and page views during 2006. Additionally, we have recently launched online trading platforms in Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic and Panama. With a market of over 550 million people and a region with one of the world's fastest-growing Internet penetration rates, we provide buyers and sellers a robust online trading environment that fosters the development of a large and growing e-commerce community. We offer a technological and commercial solution that addresses the distinctive cultural and geographic challenges of operating an online trading platform in Latin America.