MercadoLibre to invest record $2.45 billion in Mexico during 2024 (updated)

MercadoLibre

14/03/2024 16:27

(Updates with additional detail)
       MEXICO CITY, March 14 (Reuters) - Latin American
e-commerce giant MercadoLibre  MELI.O  will invest $2.45 billion
in Mexico during 2024, a nearly 50% hike from the year before
and the highest commitment for the country, the company said on
Thursday.
    The investment will be mainly directed towards boosting
technology and logistic solutions, said David Geisen, the
company's Mexico head.
        MercadoLibre, nicknamed the Amazon  AMZN.O  of Latin
America, was founded in Argentina in 1999 and has operations
across 18 countries in the region. 
    Last year, the company saw record profits, with net income
more than doubling to $1.2 billion and sales rising 37.4% to
$14.5 billion. The results, which the firm called "remarkable,"
were driven by its businesses in Brazil and Mexico.
    The company's announcement on its plans to grow in Mexico
comes a month after the country's antitrust regulator Cofece
said it had identified "possible barriers" to competition in the
e-commerce market, with Amazon and MercadoLibre together
controlling more than 85% of transactions and sales.
    The regulator said their market share poses a "practically
insurmountable challenge for the expansion of the smaller
players."
    Shares in MercadoLibre stood at $1,580 around mid-day
Thursday, with analysts forecasting a significant increase this
year to around $1,900 per share, driven by the company's
performance in recent quarters.

 (Reporting by Diego Ore; Writing by Valentine Hilaire; Editing
by Kylie Madry)
 ((Kylie.Madry@thomsonreuters.com;))