MercadoLibre, eBay’s Latin American partner, have released their financial results for 2008 with a whopping 63.8% increase in gross profit to $109.5 million, up from $66.9 million in 2007.
Revenue for the year increased 61.0% to $137.0 million, marketplace revenue grew 57.6% to $109.6 million while payments revenue grew 75.8% to $27.4 million.
We only moderately felt the impact of the macro economy on our business. As we enter a new fiscal year, we remain optimistic about our prospects as we remain well positioned to leverage the positive growth trends influencing Internet, broadband and PC penetration rates in Latin America.
Marcos Galperin, President and CEO of MercadoLibre
eBay currently hold an 18.3% share of MercadoLibre. The site draws heavily on eBay influences with the traditional eBay yellow, and their PayPal equivalent, MercadoPago is set to be increasingly important to MercadoLibre’s future profits.
While eBay are struggling to keep the share holders happy there’s little to disappoint in MercadoLibre’s performance. The question is can eBay recapture the vibrancy and growth that MercadoLibre are enjoying and what lessons can be learnt from the Latin American site’s performance?
One Response
¡Hola!
We have been listing a few select items from our product line on MercadoLibre to great success. Once you get over the initial payment hurdles, it’s pretty clear sailing. Growth seems to be organic too (and not just people signing up for multiple accounts as happened with eBay)…