UPDATE 1-MercadoLibre to invest record $2.45 billion in Mexico during 2024
(Updates with additional detail)
MEXICO CITY, March 14 (Reuters) - Latin American e-commerce giant MercadoLibre 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 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)
