Andre Romani
CAJAMAR, Brazil (Reuters) – Latin American e-commerce giant MercadoLibre expects to invest more than the 23 billion reais ($4.35 billion) it had initially planned in Brazil this year, driven by better-than-expected sales, local marketplace head Fernando Younes said on Wednesday.
He told reporters that revised capital expenditure plans were still being prepared and could not be fully disclosed at this time, but noted that the company plans to hire 11,000 people in Brazil this year, up from a previous estimate of 6,500.
“Growth in the first quarter was very good. We are seeing growth above our plans,” Younes told reporters at an event at the company’s Kahamar logistics center. “This has two implications: more resources and more staff.”
Younes said MercadoLibre plans to base some of the new staff at two new fulfillment centers it plans to open this year in the Brazilian city of Porto Alegre and the capital, Brasilia.
MercadoLibre had previously only said it intended to open one distribution center in Recife, Brazil. The company has more than 20 distribution centers in Latin America, about half of which are in Brazil, its main market.
Chief Executive Officer Marcos Galperin said the new forecasts apply to Brazil and not other markets, but noted that the company is seeing very strong growth in other countries where it operates.
MercadoLibre said in May that its first-quarter net profit rose 71% from a year earlier, helped by performance in Brazil and Mexico, beating analyst expectations.
At the event, MercadoLibre said it has begun rolling out a new strategy to increase efficiency in its distribution centers, using robots from China-based Quiktron to automate the picking process before products are packed.
As a result, most of the products in the distribution center could be shipped out 30 minutes to an hour earlier than usual for same-day delivery, said Agustin Costa, senior vice president of distribution operations.
The company is expanding the strategy to one of its centers in Cajamar, near the city of Sao Paulo, and plans to replicate it in other centers and countries, executives said.
(1 dollar = 5.2849 reals)
(Reporting by Andre Romani and Leslie Adler Editing)
