美卡多 (MELI) 2022 Q4 法說會逐字稿

Hello, everyone, and welcome to the MercadoLibre Earnings Conference Call for the quarter ended December 31, 2022. Thank you for joining us. I'm Richard Cathcart, Investor Relations Officer at MercadoLibre.

大家好，歡迎參加MercadoLibre截至2022年12月31日季度的財報電話會議。感謝各位的參與。我是MercadoLibre的投資者關係負責人Richard Cathcart。

Today, we will share our quarterly highlights on video, after which we'll begin our live Q&A session with our Chief Financial Officer, Pedro Arnt; and President of our FinTech business, Osvaldo Gimenez.

今天，我們將透過影片分享我們的季度亮點，之後我們將與財務長 Pedro Arnt 和金融科技業務總裁 Osvaldo Gimenez 進行現場問答環節。

Before we go on to discuss our results for the fourth quarter of 2022, I remind you that management may make and this presentation may contain forward-looking statements. So please refer to the disclaimer on screen, which will also be available in our earnings materials on our Investor Relations website and our Form 10-K for the year ended 2022.

在討論2022年第四季業績之前，我提醒各位，管理階層可能會做出前瞻性陳述，本次簡報中也可能包含前瞻性陳述。因此，請參閱螢幕上的免責聲明，該聲明也可在投資者關係網站的盈利材料以及我們截至2022年年底的10-K表格中找到。

With that, let's begin with a summary of our results.

接下來，讓我們先來總結一下我們的結果。

Hi, everyone. I'm happy to share the key messages about MercadoLibre's performance during the fourth quarter of 2022 and the year as a whole. We're particularly pleased to have been able to deliver an attractive combination of growth and profitability throughout the year, alongside strong operational KPIs and market share gains all while sustaining a high level of investment in products and technologies. We've successfully navigated a challenging environment, and we've reached new records across the business despite uncertainty around consumer spending, interest rates and inflation.

大家好。我很高興與大家分享MercadoLibre在2022年第四季及全年的業績要點。我們尤其欣喜的是，在保持對產品和技術高投入的同時，我們實現了全年增長和盈利的良好平衡，並取得了強勁的運營KPI和市場份額提升。儘管面臨消費者支出、利率和通膨方面的不確定性，我們依然成功應對了充滿挑戰的環境，並在各項業務中屢創佳績。

With a strong fourth quarter, we end 2022 with record results in GMV, TPV, item shipped and net revenue as well as EBIT. Revenues, for example, for the first time ever, surpassed the $10 billion mark for the year, quite a milestone for our company. EBIT also came in at a new landmark level, surpassing $1 billion while delivering margin expansion. And perhaps even more unique is the combination of record EBIT and margin expansion while still growing revenues at roughly 50% year-on-year. During 2022, MercadoLibre strengthened its leadership of the e-commerce market in Latin America. As our data indicates that we achieved market share gains across the entire region with Brazil and Mexico standing out. These market share gains are grounded in our consistent investment and execution around all aspects of our commerce value prop and also an extended period of time.

憑藉著強勁的第四季業績，我們在2022年取得了GMV、TPV、出貨量、淨收入以及EBIT均創歷史新高的佳績。例如，全年收入首次突破100億美元大關，這對我們公司而言是一個重要的里程碑。 EBIT也達到了新的里程碑水平，超過10億美元，同時實現了利潤率的提升。更難能可貴的是，在EBIT和利潤率均創歷史新高的同時，營收仍維持了約50%的年成長。 2022年，MercadoLibre鞏固了在拉丁美洲電商市場的領先地位。數據顯示，我們在整個地區的市佔率均有所提升，其中巴西和墨西哥的表現尤為突出。這些市場份額的成長得益於我們持續不斷地投資和執行，涵蓋了我們電商價值主張的各個方面，並且是長期努力的結果。

Our ability to offer a very broad product assortment from sellers of all sizes at competitive prices and with fast deliveries continues to be a key differentiator for the company. The profitability of our commerce business also improved substantially year-on-year during the fourth quarter, helped by the expansion of Mercado Ads revenues, better management of promotional budgets, a healthier margin on 1P merchandise sales and the continued overall scaling of our business.

我們能夠以極具競爭力的價格和快速的配送服務，提供來自各種規模賣家的豐富產品選擇，這仍然是公司的關鍵競爭優勢。第四季度，得益於 Mercado Ads 收入的成長、促銷預算管理的優化、1P 商品銷售利潤率的提高以及業務整體規模的持續擴大，我們的電商業務盈利能力也實現了同比大幅提升。

Development of technology for Mercado Ads has been a major focus during 2022, increasing presence of ads and their monetization as well. Ads penetration, for example, grew another 10 basis points in the fourth quarter, despite strong growth of GMV, while maintaining its attractive EBIT margins. We still see plenty of opportunities for ads growth ahead of us as we continue to improve technology to better serve our advertisers.

2022年，Mercado Ads的技術研發一直是我們的重點工作，旨在提升廣告的覆蓋率和變現效果。例如，儘管GMV成長強勁，但第四季廣告滲透率仍成長了10個基點，同時維持了可觀的息稅前利潤率。我們將繼續改進技術，更好地服務廣告客戶，因此我們認為未來廣告業務仍有巨大的成長空間。

2022 was also a fantastic year for Mercado Pago, with TPV growth exceeding our expectations while delivering take rate expansion on a year-over-year basis. On the acquiring business, first of all, we maintained our strong growth and margin performance, driven by QR payments and our POS business in Brazil, Mexico and Chile. On the other side of Pago, the digital accounts business, both payments and cards TPV continued to grow at triple digits in 2022, highlighting the traction in becoming the digital account of choice for many of our users.

2022年對Mercado Pago來說也是碩果累累的一年，交易總額（TPV）增長超出預期，同時手續費率也實現了同比增長。在收單業務方面，首先，我們保持了強勁的成長動能和利潤率，這主要得益於二維碼支付以及我們在巴西、墨西哥和智利的POS業務。另一方面，在Pago的數位帳戶業務方面，支付和銀行卡交易總額在2022年繼續保持三位數成長，凸顯了我們已成為眾多用戶首選的數位帳戶這一優勢。

Mercado Credito performed well in the fourth quarter once again and in the year as a whole, positively contributing to our profit growth despite tougher economic conditions. Throughout the year, we were able to manage the performance of our book closely and adjust to the changing realities. These effective risk controls resulted in record profits. We remain optimistic about the positive ecosystemic effects of Mercado Credito as well going forward.

Mercado Credito在第四季度和全年均表現出色，儘管經濟環境趨於嚴峻，但仍為我們的利潤成長做出了積極貢獻。全年，我們始終密切管理業務，並根據不斷變化的市場環境進行調整。這些有效的風險控制措施最終帶來了創紀錄的利潤。我們對Mercado Credito未來可能產生的正向生態系效應仍保持樂觀。

2022 has been a year of adjustments on the other hand for the credit card product. But with improvements to the underwriting models, we've seen a much improved performance from the most recent cohorts on the credit cards. That leaves us encouraged by the performance of that product, which will remain a key element of the wider Mercado Pago value proposition and strategy going forward. All of these credit products complement our wider Mercado Pago offering, for which 2022 has been an important years in terms of broadening the scope of financial services we're able to offer.

另一方面，2022年對於信用卡產品而言是調整之年。但隨著核保模式的改進，我們看到最新一批信用卡用戶的績效顯著提升。這令我們對該產品的表現感到鼓舞，它將繼續成為Mercado Pago整體價值主張和未來策略的關鍵組成部分。所有這些信貸產品都與我們更廣泛的Mercado Pago產品和服務相輔相成，而2022年對於我們擴大金融服務範圍而言是至關重要的一年。

We think we now have a product stack in place that is sufficient to meet our users core day-to-day needs, which will enable us to accelerate our efforts to achieve principality within that user base. All of these strong results have been made possible by top-notch execution from the team and discipline in leveraging our scale to deliver continued cost dilution. You have a much more detailed review of all of these fourth quarter operational and financial results made available to you both in our shareholder letter and also presentation, which are published on our Investor Relations website.

我們認為，目前的產品組合足以滿足用戶日常核心需求，這將使我們能夠加快在用戶群中佔據主導地位的步伐。所有這些優異的績效都得益於團隊的卓越執行力以及我們利用規模優勢持續降低成本的嚴格把控。您可以在我們致股東的信函和簡報中找到第四季度營運和財務表現的更詳細分析，這些資料已發佈在我們的投資者關係網站上。

With that, before turning to the live Q&A section, I'd like to hand it back to Richard to go through some of the latest business and product updates of the quarter and year. Thank you.

接下來，在進入現場問答環節之前，我想把時間交還給理查德，讓他介紹一下本季和本年度最新的業務和產品動態。謝謝。

2022 was another important year for investments in technology at MercadoLibre. And today, we want to share some of the key impacts these investments have delivered to our ecosystem as we continue on our mission to democratize commerce and financial services in Latin America. We're now able to offer a full stack of day-to-day financial services and products to our millions of Mercado Pago users after 18 months of intense technology deployment. We are leveraging our data in order to cross-sell new products and services to our users.

2022年對於MercadoLibre而言，在技術投資方面又是一個重要的年份。今天，我們想分享這些投資為我們生態系統帶來的一些關鍵影響，我們將繼續致力於在拉丁美洲普及商業和金融服務。經過18個月的密集技術部署，我們現在能夠為數百萬Mercado Pago用戶提供全套日常金融服務和產品。我們正在利用數據，向用戶交叉銷售新產品和服務。

Users of our digital account have access to debit and credit cards, along with QR code payments and an online transfers, making Mercado Pago more useful for their day-to-day needs. This is an important step in building towards achieving principality. Mercado Pago also offer saving buckets dedicated to our users' specific objectives and they are able to choose from different risk profiles with a minimum investment of just BRL 1 in Brazil.

我們的數位帳戶用戶可以使用金融卡和信用卡，還可以進行二維碼支付和線上轉賬，這使得 Mercado Pago 更能滿足他們的日常需求。這是我們邁向公國的重要一步。 Mercado Pago 也提供專為使用者特定目標設計的儲蓄帳戶，使用者可以選擇不同的風險等級，最低投資金額僅為 1 巴西雷亞爾（BRL）。

Users can now also make investments in a quick and simple process by the Mercado Pago app. This includes banking deposit certificates from our financial institution with a fixed rate and more recently, users in Brazil have access to 3 simple investment funds. Mercado Pago also offers different insurance options to suit our users' needs with life, personal accident and online transactions insurance. This offers protection against uncertainties that many of our customers may face in their daily lives.

用戶現在可以透過 Mercado Pago 應用程式輕鬆快速地進行投資。投資方式包括購買我們金融機構提供的固定利率銀行存款憑證，以及近期新增的 3 種簡易投資基金。 Mercado Pago 還提供多種保險選擇，滿足用戶的不同需求，包括人壽保險、意外傷害保險和線上交易保險。這些保險能夠幫助使用者應對日常生活中可能遇到的各種不確定因素。

Now with a complete product stack, Mercado Pago is well positioned to become a leading financial services provider in the region, enabling us to foster financial inclusion across the region. Our commerce platform currently serves millions of buyers and sellers by offering a world-class experience we've surpassed the mark of 1.1 billion items sold in 2022. We are investing in technology to continue to improve the online shopping experience of our users as we believe this will drive more retail spend online, particularly in categories where e-commerce penetration is low.

如今，Mercado Pago 擁有完整的產品線，並已做好充分準備成為該地區領先的金融服務提供商，從而促進整個地區的普惠金融發展。我們的電商平台目前服務數百萬買家和賣家，提供世界一流的體驗，2022 年的商品銷售已突破 11 億件。我們正加大科技投入，持續提升用戶的線上購物體驗，因為我們相信這將推動更多零售支出在線成長，尤其是在電商滲透率較低的品類。

We deployed improvements to several categories in 2022, including home and decor, fashion and beauty and autoparts. For example, in the autoparts category, we have simplified the search and filters in order to create a more specialist experience whilst in the home and decor category, we've further developed our discovery lab navigation experience.

2022年，我們對多個品類進行了改進，包括家居裝飾、時尚美妝和汽車配件。例如，在汽車配件類別中，我們簡化了搜尋和篩選功能，以提供更專業的體驗；而在家居裝飾品類中，我們進一步優化了探索實驗室的導航體驗。

New features have enabled sellers to promote their products in different formats. Short videos recorded by sellers to promote their products have reached millions of monthly views. And improvements in our advertising platform have increased the presence of ads in product pages. MercadoLibre continues to have the fastest delivery times in all of our key geographies. We're also investing in technology to improve the efficiency of our logistics network. And in 2022, we were able to deliver significant improvements in the productivity of our fulfillment centers, which means that even with a higher penetration of fulfillment deliveries, our overall net shipping cost as a percentage of GMV remained broadly flat year-on-year.

新功能使賣家能夠以多種形式推廣產品。賣家錄製的用於推廣產品的短影片每月觀看量已達數百萬次。廣告平台的改進也提高了產品頁面的廣告曝光率。 MercadoLibre 在所有主要地區持續保持最快的配送速度。我們也正在投資技術，以提高物流網路的效率。 2022 年，我們大幅提升了配送中心的生產力，這意味著即使配送滲透率更高，我們的淨運輸成本佔商品交易總額 (GMV) 的比例也基本與上年持平。

Our MELI Places network grew to over 7,000 locations with over half of the returns already done through places. These returns have a higher NPS than other options, such as the local postal service. For buyers that choose to pick their items up from the MELI Places network, the NPS is the same, the deliveries made to the buyer's homes. We also delivered improvements in lead times with the MELI Air operations, reducing over 1 day in lead times as well as optimizing costs.

我們的 MELI Places 網路已擴展至 7,000 多個地點，超過一半的退貨已透過這些地點完成。這些退貨方式的淨推薦值 (NPS) 高於其他選項，例如當地郵政服務。對於選擇從 MELI Places 網路自提商品的買家，其 NPS 與送貨上門相同。此外，我們也透過 MELI Air 營運優化了交貨週期，縮短了超過一天的交貨時間，並優化了成本。

We ended 2022 with a stronger ecosystem and great opportunities ahead of us, and we are as confident as ever that the best is yet to come.

2022 年末，我們擁有了更強大的生態系統和更廣闊的發展機遇，我們一如既往地相信，最好的還在後頭。

(Operator Instructions) And our first question comes from Andrew Ruben from Morgan Stanley.

（操作說明）我們的第一個問題來自摩根士丹利的安德魯魯本。

You made a comment in the release about operating in a fast-changing competitive landscape in Brazil. I'm curious if you could elaborate and specifically in that type of competitive environment, as you run your business, what changes and what doesn't?

您在新聞稿中提到，在巴西快速變化的競爭環境中營運面臨許多挑戰。我很想詳細了解一下，在這種競爭環境下，您經營業務時，哪些方面會發生變化，哪些方面不會？

So in general, I think the area we operate in, both consumer commerce and FinTech and specifically the technology areas are low barrier of entry, high competitive markets which generate extremely dynamic market situations and structures. And I think one of our characteristics over the last 20 years has been speed to adapt and speed to change course, while at the same time, having a very clearly defined long-term focused strategy. And that's what we consistently refer to when we talk about how dynamic the segment is. Our long-term vision for what we're building is very consistent. The areas we focus on our consumers, our merchants, the quality of our products and our technology has remained incredibly consistent over time. And tactically, we try to adapt very quickly to changing market dynamics, to changing technological dynamics and consumer habits. And we think that we've served our consumers and shareholders well because of that speed of adaptation that we've built into our culture and how we operate.

總的來說，我認為我們所處的領域，包括消費性電商、金融科技，尤其是科技領域，都是進入門檻低、競爭激烈的市場，造就了極度動態的市場格局和結構。我認為，過去20年來，我們的一大特點就是能夠快速適應變化、快速調整方向，同時又擁有非常清晰的長期策略。這正是我們在談到這個領域的動態時反覆提及的。我們對自身發展的長期願景始終如一。我們關注的重點領域——消費者、商家、產品品質和技術——也始終保持高度一致。在策略上，我們力求快速適應不斷變化的市場動態、技術發展和消費者習慣。我們認為，正是這種快速適應能力，讓我們能夠更好地服務消費者和股東，並將之融入我們的企業文化和營運方式中。

Great. And if I could just follow up quickly, in terms of how you're thinking about the 1P business. I know it was an area that slowed down a bit in the past year, but you've talked about a greater opportunity over time. Any updated thoughts about how you're feeling about that business, the economics, et cetera?

好的。如果可以的話，我想快速問一下您對1P業務的看法。我知道這個領域在過去一年發展有所放緩，但您也提到隨著時間的推移，它蘊藏著更大的發展機會。您對這個業務的看法，例如經濟效益等等，現在有什麼新的進展嗎？

So we've continued to see improvements, first and foremost, in capabilities, how we operate the technology that we've built in-house to run that business, in terms of pricing, buying and promoting. And a consequence of those improvements and capabilities has been improved PPMs and better economics coming out of the 1P business. So that bodes well in terms of our expectations going forward for the 1P business and that we feel we are closer and closer to the point where the combination of capabilities and also what those P&Ls look like allow us to reaccelerate that business again sometime over the next few quarters.

因此，我們持續看到改進，首先體現在我們能力的提升上，以及我們自主研發的技術在定價、採購和推廣等方面的運用能力的提升。這些改進和能力的提升帶來了更高的產品組合效率（PPM）和更佳的經濟效益，使1P業務的獲利能力得到改善。這對我們未來的1P業務發展前景十分樂觀，我們相信，隨著各項能力的提升以及損益表數據的改善，我們距離在未來幾個季度內再次加速該業務增長的目標越來越近了。

And our next question comes from Irma Sgarz from Goldman Sachs.

下一個問題來自高盛的伊爾瑪·斯加茲。

The CapEx for the year came in just a bit lower -- actually quite a bit lower than we had maybe imagined at the outset of the year. And obviously, no negative impact to the overall results there, but I was just trying to think a little bit how you would characterize maybe the path for CapEx going forward, just in terms of what you still have to deploy specifically on the fulfillment of the technology side within those fulfillment centers and automation equipment, et cetera, as you take your logistics network to the next level.

今年的資本支出略低於預期——實際上比我們年初的預估要低得多。顯然，這對整體業績沒有負面影響，但我只是想了解一下，您會如何看待未來的資本支出發展方向，特別是考慮到在物流中心的技術層面和自動化設備等方面，您還需要投入多少資金來提升物流網絡水平。

And then shifting to payments in the release, you point to share gains that you've been driving in the MPOS business in Brazil as you've been shifting little bit more upmarket. Can you talk about what -- how your offering is different from the competitors? And how crowded you see that space? And as a function of that, sort of how you're seeing -- how you're thinking about room for pricing adjustments? And how you expect churn to develop?

然後，在談到支付業務時，您提到在巴西的行動POS業務中，隨著您向高端市場略微轉型，市場份額有所提升。能否談談您的產品與競爭對手有何不同？您認為這個市場競爭有多激烈？基於此，您如何看待價格調整空間？以及您預計客戶流失率將如何變化？

Irma, so let me take the CapEx one first. If you look at the cash profile that we delivered both in the fourth quarter and full year 2022, I think '22 was a stellar year in many aspects. Cash generation was one of them, both from an operational cash flow, but also some of the disclosures we offer in the PowerPoint around available cash and change in free cash generation. Part of that cash generation was because we are operating close to peak utilization in some of our geographies in terms of our logistics and CapEx -- logistics fulfillment centers and sortation centers. So we do anticipate some incremental investments when we look at '23 versus '22 in terms of CapEx primarily on the logistics front, as we build incremental capacity that we are needing in some markets, primarily in Mexico.

伊爾瑪，那我先來說說資本支出方面。如果你看一下我們2022年第四季和全年的現金流狀況，我認為2022年在許多方面都表現出色。現金流就是其中之一，這不僅體現在營運現金流上，也體現在我們PPT中揭露的可用現金和自由現金流變動等方面。部分現金流的增加得益於我們在部分地區的物流和資本支出（例如物流配送中心和分類中心）接近尖峰利用率。因此，我們預計2023年與2022年相比，資本支出方面將有一些新增投資，主要集中在物流領域，因為我們需要在一些市場（主要是墨西哥）建立所需的新增產能。

In terms of the other big CapEx item, which is developers and capitalized product development, I think what you're seeing going forward is a bit of a slowdown in the pace of net new adds of developers. I think we're still going against most others in that we continue to hire, but probably at a somewhat more measured pace than we had been adding engineers over the past few years. So that will also, in a way, generate a lower cadence of capitalized R&D when we look into the future years. But net-net, '23 should come in higher than '22 did in terms of CapEx, at least, as we see it right now.

至於另一個重要的資本支出項目，即開發人員和資本化產品開發，我認為未來會出現開發人員淨新增速度放緩的情況。我們仍然在繼續招聘，這與大多數公司的做法不同，但招聘速度可能比過去幾年增加工程師的速度要慢一些。因此，從某種程度上說，這也會導致未來幾年資本化研發的投入節奏放緩。但總的來說，至少就我們目前的預測而言，2023年的資本支出應該會高於2022年。

With regards to the payment question regarding our POS and our move up market in Brazil, in Brazil and in all of the regions, it's something we are very excited about. When we look at how we have been able to grow TPV, it's not because we are selling a whole lot more devices than we were a year ago, but rather because we have been able to significantly increase the TPV per device. And this has been driven by rolling out and deploying larger pulling out if the products that we believe are more robust that have better connectivity, better approval rates and better NPS than we had in the past, and that is recognized by some of our users. And so what we are seeing is a significant increase in (inaudible) device. And also, we are deploying a larger the sales force than we did in the past. Most of it is a third-party, sales force is not our own, but nonetheless, they enable us to scale in the SMB segment.

關於我們POS機在巴西以及所有地區的支付問題，我們對此感到非常興奮。我們之所以能夠實現TPV（每筆交易的支付額）的成長，並非因為我們比一年前售出了更多設備，而是因為我們大幅提高了每台設備的TPV。這主要歸功於我們推廣和部署了更多我們認為更穩定、連接性更好、審批率更高、NPS（淨推薦值）更高的產品，而這些優勢也得到了部分用戶的認可。因此，我們看到設備數量的顯著增長。此外，我們的銷售團隊規模也比以往更大。雖然大部分銷售人員並非我們自己的，但他們確實幫助我們在中小企業市場實現了規模化發展。

And our next question comes from Marcelo Santos from JPMorgan.

下一個問題來自摩根大通的馬塞洛·桑托斯。

The question is about the provisioning on the credit business. I think in the presentation, you mentioned that the provisioning went down partially because of better credit quality. Does this mean that you reduce the amount that you provision for -- in terms of like late past to payments? So I think in the previous quarter, you showed a range of how much you provision per cohort. Did that change because you improved the quality or it didn't change?

這個問題是關於信貸業務的撥備。我記得在演示中，您提到撥備下降的部分原因是信用品質提高。這是否意味著您減少了逾期付款等情況的撥備？我記得上個季度您展示了每個客戶群的撥備範圍。這個範圍是否因為信貸品質的提高而有所變化，還是並沒有變化？

Marcelo, I think let me describe in more detail what has happened over the last few quarters. As you recall, during the second quarter -- towards the end of the second quarter, as we saw that market conditions were worsening. We decided to be more restrictive and to lower our exposure to higher-risk segments. That has been the case for the third and fourth quarter, and we're in each of the countries and each of the businesses, we lower our exposure to the higher risk segment.

馬塞洛，我想讓我更詳細地描述一下過去幾季的情況。你可能還記得，在第二季末，我們看到市場狀況惡化。因此，我們決定採取更嚴格的措施，降低對高風險領域的投資曝險。第三季和第四季也是如此，我們在每個國家和每個業務領域都降低了對高風險領域的投資敞口。

As a consequence of that, we had lower NPLs and that reduction in NPLs drove a reduction in provisions. But nonetheless, as we are originating loans that are less risky, the new provisions have slowed down proportionally. Nonetheless, they accurately reflect our best estimate of what the risk is. So we are comfortable with the level of provisions we have. It's just reflecting an improvement in the risk we are taking.

因此，我們的不良貸款率下降，不良貸款率的降低也帶動了撥備的減少。但即便如此，由於我們發放的貸款風險較低，新增撥備也隨之放緩。儘管如此，撥備仍然準確反映了我們對風險的最佳評估。因此，我們對目前的撥備水準感到滿意。這只是反映了我們所承擔風險的改善。

And our next question comes from Robert Ford from Bank of America.

下一個問題來自美國銀行的羅伯特福特。

Congratulations on the quarter. Pedro, how are you thinking about the disruption to Americans, relative competitive advantage and near-term market share opportunities. And is that dislocation having any impact on the promotional support from suppliers in 1P categories?

恭喜本季業績。佩德羅，您如何看待這次疫情對美國市場的影響、相對競爭優勢以及近期市場佔有率成長機會？這種市場動盪是否對1P品類供應商的促銷支援產生任何影響？

Bob, thanks. So in a way, it's a continuation of the answer to Andrew's question at the beginning. Our strategy has never been driven by what competitors are doing or not doing, but much more focused on what we're doing and our consumers. On a tactical level, I think if there are market share opportunities that become available, then without changing strategy, we will see how we can potentially lean into those and try to take advantage, and gain some of those shares -- or gain some of those share gains that are being lost potentially by our competitors. So we are seeing the market being disrupted in some ways positive, in some ways negative. And we do have short-term tactical plans to see how we can potentially take advantage of that. But again, I think much more importantly, from a strategy perspective from the business lines that we're trying to develop, nothing changes as a consequence of what might or might not happen going forward with Americans.

鮑勃，謝謝。某種程度上，這算是對安德魯一開始問題的回答的延續。我們的策略從來都不是受競爭對手的動向驅動，而是更專注於我們自身的行動和消費者。從戰術層面來說，我認為如果出現市場份額提升的機會，我們會在不改變戰略的前提下，探索如何抓住這些機會，努力獲取市場份額——或者說，如何彌補競爭對手可能失去的市場份額。因此，我們看到市場在某些方面受到了衝擊，既有積極的，也有消極的。我們確實制定了短期戰術計劃，以探索如何利用這些衝擊。但再次強調，我認為更重要的是，從我們正在發展的業務線的戰略角度來看，美國人未來可能發生的事情不會影響我們的策略。

That makes sense. And in terms of the Ad business, can you provide a little bit more color in terms of the incremental functionality on the ad server and the demand side platform, as well as any expected timing of improvements?

這很有道理。就廣告業務而言，您能否更詳細地介紹廣告伺服器和需求方平台的功能改進，以及預期的改進時間表？

Yes. So I think over the last probably 2 or 3 quarters, we've been very consistent about talking about the new product deployment and how we've accelerated our focus and investments on technology and ad tech business. We've doubled the engineering headcount there -- probably half a year.

是的。所以我覺得在過去兩三個季度裡，我們一直在強調新產品的部署，以及我們如何加快對科技和廣告科技業務的關注和投資。我們在短短半年內就將這方面的工程人員數量增加了一倍。

We also, I think, have been very consistent in saying that between the product launches and the technology improvements and when we actually see the results coming in, there is a lag, and it's hard for us to predict how long that lag might take. And so we'll need to see how that plays out throughout most of this year. We've continued to push significant product enhancements in the advertising business in Q4, and into the beginning of '23. And so we remain optimistic about eventually being able to reap the returns of those improved investments in the ad stack and hopefully, we'll be able to report something over the next few quarters. We continue to see constant penetration gains from advertising revenues as a percentage of GMV, and that continues to be one of the most attractive revenue streams when we look at the margin structure there. So I guess we all are very focused on this, and let's keep you posted as we go forward into the year and how the results begin to flow in.

我認為，我們一直以來都強調，產品發布和技術改進與最終看到成效之間存在滯後，而且我們很難預測這個滯後會持續多久。因此，我們需要觀察今年大部分時間的發展。在第四季以及2023年初，我們持續推進廣告業務的重大產品改進。因此，我們仍然樂觀地認為，最終能夠從這些廣告技術堆疊改進的投資中獲得回報，並希望在接下來的幾個季度中能夠公佈相關數據。我們看到廣告收入佔GMV的比例持續成長，而且從利潤率來看，它仍然是最具吸引力的收入來源之一。所以我想我們都非常關注這一點，隨著今年的進展以及業績的逐步公佈，我們會及時向大家報告。

And our next question comes from Thiago Macruz from Itaú.

下一個問題來自伊塔烏大學的蒂亞戈·馬克魯茲。

First, congratulations on the quarter. Two questions from us. First, regarding the Mercado Credito business, I think that achieving a lower cost of funding is key here. And I just want to understand if that is entirely dependent on the e-wallet, reaching further users and principality, or if there's another avenue to that end?

首先，恭喜您本季業績優異。我們有兩個問題。第一，關於Mercado Credito業務，我認為降低融資成本是關鍵。我想了解的是，這是否完全取決於電子錢包、拓展用戶群和覆蓋範圍，還是還有其他途徑可以實現這一目標？

And a follow-up on the ads question just a few minutes ago. Is it fair to say that technology is not a restriction for the marginal growth of the business and rather generating further demand by eventually showcasing the economics of what you guys are offering from the seller standpoint? Those are my 2 questions.

關於幾分鐘前提出的廣告問題，我還有一個後續問題。可以說，科技並非限制業務邊際成長的因素，反而會透過最終展現你們產品/服務的經濟效益（從賣家的角度來看），從而創造更多需求嗎？這就是我的兩個問題。

Thiago, I would say we have started to grow the CDBs we offer to users. And we, in the past, used to do this through third parties and it's something that we have done more and more throughout the -- since we launched it in the fourth quarter. Still, I don't think has had yet relevant impact in the overall cost of funding because we are paying -- since we are promoting the growth of CDBs at Mercado Pago, the cost we have is similar to the one we are getting from third parties. But as we expand this, this could be relevant in the future. But so far, I think it's still early days of our funding with CDB.

Thiago，我想說我們已經開始增加向用戶提供的CDB（社區發展銀行）數量。過去，我們是透過第三方來提供CDB的，自從第四季度推出以來，我們一直在加強。不過，我認為這對整體融資成本的影響還不大，因為我們自己也在為推廣Mercado Pago上的CDB付費，所以成本和從第三方獲得的成本差不多。但隨著我們規模的擴大，這在未來可能會產生影響。但就目前而言，我認為我們利用CDB進行融資還處於早期階段。

There was a second part to the previous question. On the ads piece, Thiago, if I understood the question correctly, we do think that technology is not just a nice to have or an additional benefit. It is a core necessity of being able to scale out the advertising business and have it reach the long-term size that we would like to reach. So the improvements we've made in terms of incremental positions and inventory for advertising. The improvements in the ad server technology that delivers display advertising throughout the platform. The launch of a self-service DSP platform for ad displays.

前一個問題還有第二部分。關於廣告部分，Thiago，如果我理解正確的話，我們認為科技不僅僅是錦上添花或額外的好處，而是擴展廣告業務規模並達到我們預期長期目標的核心要素。因此，我們在廣告位和庫存方面都做出了改進，改進了廣告伺服器技術，從而能夠在整個平台上投放展示廣告，並推出了自助式DSP廣告展示平台。

The improvements in self-service reporting for advertisers to be able to see their results in near real time and react to that quickly. And equally important, the ability to better target audiences within the -- So all of the focus in terms of technology over the last few quarters, probably begins to put us on equal footing with some of the largest and most successful technology platforms whereas before we simply weren't there. So this really is, I would say, a necessity to have launched this technology and get it right. We're very encouraged by the fact that it's now out there. And hopefully, we'll see over if there's adoption of all these different pieces of the stack deliver the kind of results that we (inaudible).

廣告主自助報告功能的改進，使他們能夠近乎即時地查看廣告效果并快速做出反應。同樣重要的是，能夠更精準地定位目標受眾——過去幾季我們在技術方面的投入，或許已經讓我們開始與一些規模最大、最成功的技術平台並駕齊驅，而在此之前，我們根本無法與之匹敵。因此，我認為推出這項技術並確保其正確運行是勢在必行的。我們非常欣慰這項技術現在已經面世。希望隨著所有這些不同組件的普及，我們能夠看到最終的成果（聽不清楚）。

And our next question comes from Geoffrey Elliott from Autonomous.

我們的下一個問題來自 Autonomous 公司的 Geoffrey Elliott。

The release talks about a sequential increase in fulfillment penetration, looks like in Brazil, Mexico, Chile, kind of across the board. Can you give us a bit more detail on that and update on where we stand on charging for fulfillment?

新聞稿提到，訂單履行滲透率逐年上升趨勢，巴西、墨西哥、智利等國家的情況似乎普遍如此。您能否提供更多細節，並更新我們在訂單履行收費方面的進度？

So in terms of the model, we charge for both rental space, and we charge for inventory that doesn't rotate quickly enough and generates inefficiencies in terms of floor space. What we've been saying over the last few quarters is that we have dual objectives of introducing monetization behind fulfillment, yet at the same time, still push adoption and usage of that service, primarily outside of Mexico to Mexico-like levels are in the direction of Mexico-like levels. And in a way, those 2 levers are opposing levers. And so we've introduced the full model, but we've kept pricing relatively low. If you look at the fourth quarter results, the monetization overall in the logistics operation in Mercado Envios was actually higher. .

所以就我們的模式而言，我們既收取場地租賃費，也收取周轉速度不夠快、造成空間利用效率低下的庫存費用。過去幾季我們一直在強調，我們的雙重目標是：一方面，實現物流配送的盈利；另一方面，推動這項服務的普及和使用，尤其是在墨西哥以外的地區，使其達到與墨西哥本土水平相近的程度。某種程度上，這兩個目標相互制約。因此，我們推出了完整的模式，但同時保持了相對較低的價格。如果您查看第四季度的業績，您會發現Mercado Envios物流營運的整體獲利能力實際上有所提高。

So we have gradually been dialing up monetization around the cost side of logistics services, in part to offset cost increases and also in part to better reflect the services we're offering. But it's still being done so at a very gradual pace. Again, repeating myself, bearing in mind that we still need to drive significant penetration growth in fulfillment, primarily in Brazil, Chile, Colombia and Argentina that are still 20-plus percentage points behind Mexico in terms of adoption.

因此，我們一直在逐步提高物流服務成本方面的獲利能力，部分原因是抵銷成本上漲，部分原因也是為了更好地體現我們提供的服務。但這一進程仍然非常緩慢。再次強調，我們仍需要大幅提升履約服務的滲透率，尤其是在巴西、智利、哥倫比亞和阿根廷，這些國家的採用率仍比墨西哥低20多個百分點。

So it will be a very gradual and steady process. It will be a gradual and consistent process over the next many years. But I wouldn't expect any significant step functions in terms of monetization, not anytime in the near future at least.

所以這將會是一個循序漸進、穩定發展的過程。在未來很多年裡，這將是一個持續穩定的過程。但我預計在短期內，至少在不久的將來，在盈利方面不會出現任何顯著的飛躍式增長。

And our next question comes from Jamie Friedman from Susquehanna International Group.

下一個問題來自 Susquehanna International Group 的 Jamie Friedman。

So for Pedro or Osvaldo, two questions, so just asking upfront. How should we be thinking about the journey in the TPV between on and off platform? What would it -- I mean, obviously, off-platform number is great. What would it take to get even more ubiquitous acceptance off? That's the first one like the journey on, especially off platform. And then in terms of (inaudible) what is the current messaging and strategy of the company? Previously for Credito, I thought that the goal was to syndicate more and more of the credit. Is that still the approach? Or would you be comfortable if credit quality improved profitability was great today, taking some more on balance sheet? Those are my 2 questions.

所以，對於 Pedro 或 Osvaldo，我有兩個問題，先問清楚。我們該如何看待 TPV 在平台內外的發展歷程？我的意思是，顯然，平台外的數據很棒。要實現更廣泛的平台外接受度，需要做些什麼？這是第一個問題，就像平台內的發展歷程一樣，尤其是在平台外。然後，關於（聽不清楚）公司目前的訊息傳遞和策略是什麼？之前在 Credito，我認為目標是將越來越多的信貸業務進行銀團化。現在還是這樣嗎？或者，如果信貸品質提高，獲利能力也很好，您是否願意在資產負債表上增加一些信貸業務？這就是我的兩個問題。

Jamie, let me start with the first one regarding TPV. I think that we are really happy with how TPV off-platform has been evolving. TPV on-platform basically now already tracks the gross merchandise volume we do in the marketplace, we're already at 100% -- we have been at 100% for a long time. So that tracks e-commerce marketplace growth. And with regards to TPV off-platform, I think there are several avenues for growth there. Probably the one that we have seen growth the most over the last few years is in Mexico and Brazil is the POS volume, which is growing nicely, and Argentina has been more related to the wallet, which is also growing very strongly.

傑米，我先來說說關於TPV（終端支付價值）的第一點。我認為我們對TPV在平台外的成長非常滿意。平台內的TPV基本上已經能夠追蹤我們在平台上的商品交易總額，而且我們已經達到100%——事實上，我們已經保持100%很久了。所以它能夠追蹤電商平台的成長。至於TPV在平台外的成長，我認為它有幾個成長點。在過去幾年裡，我們在墨西哥和巴西看到的成長最顯著的是POS機交易量，這兩個市場的成長勢頭良好；而在阿根廷，TPV的成長主要與電子錢包相關，而且成長非常強勁。

There's also online payment, but online payments then is growing at a lower pace that in-store, basically because we already have a larger share online than we have in store. And because still in Latin America, e-commerce or all in payments is a relatively small fraction of total retail. The second one is -- I'm not sure I got it right. If you can repeat, that would be great as regarding the funding for Mercado Credito.

還有線上支付，但線上支付的成長速度低於實體店支付，主要是因為我們線上業務的份額已經大於實體店。而且在拉丁美洲，電子商務或線上支付在零售總額中所佔的比例仍然相對較小。第二個問題是──我不確定我是否理解正確。如果您能再說一遍，那就太好了，因為這關係到Mercado Credito的融資情況。

So my understanding, (inaudible), it's on a dollar of origination $0.60, I may mess this up, I'm sorry, goes through the syndication of the (inaudible) and then 50-50 first 100 you own, and the next 100 gets syndicated out. My understanding was you were trying to push more through the (inaudible) when credit was deteriorating, but now credit looks like it's improving. So I'm just trying to figure out, would you balance sheet more of Credito.

所以我的理解是，（聽不清楚），每1美元的初始投資，佣金是0.60美元，我可能記錯了，抱歉，這筆錢會先經過（聽不清楚）的銀團貸款，然後你持有的前100美元你和你各佔50%，接下來的100美元再進行銀團貸款。我的理解是，當信用狀況惡化時，你們試圖透過（聽不清楚）的方式推進更多投資，但現在信用狀況似乎正在改善。所以我只是想弄清楚，你們是否會增加Credito的資產負債表？

So no, the strategy remains unchanged. We continue, given the potential size of our credit books to increase the amount of (inaudible) so that we can off balance sheet the incremental growth that should come through while still retaining a subordinate tranche, which has been very profitable for us so far. The additional funding source that is becoming potentially more relevant going forward are the CDBs that Osvaldo mentioned in a previous question. So when we think of the capital structure around the credit business, there will be our own equity investments.

所以，策略不變。鑑於我們信貸帳簿的潛在規模，我們將繼續增加（聽不清楚）金額，以便將預期新增成長納入表外，同時保留目前獲利頗豐的次級貸款。奧斯瓦爾多在先前的問題中提到的CDB（國家開發銀行）是未來可能變得更加重要的額外融資來源。因此，當我們考慮信貸業務的資本結構時，其中將包括我們自己的股權投資。

The (inaudible) or the warehouses that should be growing with relationship to the equity piece. And then the third piece is taking advantage of the CDBs that we can now distribute ourselves in our own digital wallets in addition to doing so through banking partnerships as we had been in the past as the third very relevant window in terms of capital structure for the credit business. The CDBs in a way start to emulate not from a regulatory perspective, but from a business perspective, what a savings account potentially looks like, although at a higher cost. But it's essentially allowing our own users to have a savings product that's CDB that at the same time is an efficient funding source for us.

（聽不清楚）或者說，倉庫應該隨著股權部分的成長而成長。第三點是利用我們現在可以在自己的數位錢包中分發的CDB（中央開發銀行卡），除了像過去那樣透過銀行合作分發之外，這也是信用業務資本結構中第三個非常重要的管道。從某種意義上說，CDB從商業角度而非監管角度開始模擬儲蓄帳戶，儘管成本更高。但本質上，它允許我們的用戶擁有一個CDB儲蓄產品，同時它也是我們高效的資金來源。

And our next question comes from Marvin Fong from BTIG.

下一個問題來自 BTIG 的 Marvin Fong。

Congratulations also on the quarter. Two questions from me. So first one on Credito. Just at a high level, obviously, the profitability is become very strong, and you've gotten more conservative with your underwriting. Just curious on how you're thinking about the extension of credit and growing -- returning to growing the book a little bit more aggressively. In other words, are you waiting for the macro environment to get a little more favorable? Or do you believe that Credito is in such a strong position that maybe you can start kind of leveraging that strength to extend credit a little more aggressively?

也恭喜您本季業績出色。我有兩個問題。第一個是關於Credito的。從宏觀層面來看，顯然獲利能力非常強勁，而且你們在核保方面也更加保守了。我很好奇你們是如何考慮擴大信貸規模和成長的——也就是重新開始更積極地擴展業務。換句話說，你們是在等待宏觀環境更有利嗎？還是你們認為Credito目前實力雄厚，可以開始利用這種優勢更積極擴大信貸規模？

And then second question, I saw on the e-commerce side that you partnered with Carrefour for delivering groceries. Just curious if you could kind of expand a little bit more on your strategy with grocery. Should we take this as a sign that you made a definitive decision to proceed with grocery and partnerships and you're not interested in handling that on a 1P basis?

第二個問題，我看到你們在電商方面與家樂福合作開展生鮮配送業務。我想請您詳細介紹一下你們的生鮮配送策略。這是否意味著你們已經決定進軍生鮮配送領域並尋求合作夥伴，而不再打算以獨立運作的方式開展這項業務？

Marvin, let me start with the first one. And with regards to the outlook from credit, I'd say that as we -- as you mentioned over the last couple of quarters, as we saw market conditions worsened, we decided to be more cautious on the risk we're willing to take. And also, we decided to price our lines more expensively to make sure we had a better spread to be on the safe side. What ended up happening where that collections were better than we expected, and we ended up with very healthy spreads. Now we'll see when we deem that market conditions are improving. And when that is the case, probably then will be, again, more aggressive. And as we become more aggressive, probably we will allow for some compression in spreads. But we will be very dynamically and flexible regarding how we see the market evolving.

馬文，我先回答第一個問題。關於信貸前景，正如你過去幾季所提到的，隨著市場狀況惡化，我們決定更謹慎地控制風險。同時，我們也決定提高信用定價，以確保獲得更有利的利差，從而更加穩健。最終的結果是，收款情況好於預期，利差也非常健康。現在，我們將觀察市場狀況何時改善。一旦市場狀況好轉，我們可能會再次採取更積極的策略。隨著策略的調整，我們可能會適當地收窄利差。但我們會根據市場變化靈活調整策略。

Could you please repeat the second part of the question? I think I lost you.

請您重複問題的第二部分好嗎？我好像沒聽懂。

I believe you guys had entered into a distribution partnership on grocery with Carrefour in Brazil. I was just wondering if you could kind of expand on that and your -- how you're thinking about grocery right now?

我相信你們已經和家樂福在巴西達成了食品雜貨分銷合作關係。我想請你們詳細介紹一下，以及你們目前對食品雜貨業務的看法？

Great. So we have a 3P partnership with Carrefour, meaning that they will be a merchant on our platform. I think they can bring very necessary and welcome head assortment to the CPG and supermarket category for us. Ideally, they are a key partner in terms of groceries as we experiment with that part of the supermarket offering, which is always one of the most challenging ones.

太好了。我們和家樂福建立了第三方合作關係，這意味著他們將成為我們平台上的商家。我認為他們能為我們帶來非常必要且受歡迎的消費品和超市品類的優質商品。理想情況下，他們是我們在食品雜貨領域的重要合作夥伴，因為我們正在嘗試拓展超市的食品雜貨業務，而這始終是最具挑戰性的領域之一。

And the model is one where their inventory will be sent to our fulfillment centers, and we will be able to deliver that through fulfilled by MELI which is always -- from a consumer perspective, the best user experience, the one where we have greatest control over logistics and the entire end-to-end purchasing process. So it's within the context of our continuous experimentation within supermarket. Again, I think we've continued to see improving economics within that subcategory, still a challenging category from a P&L perspective. It has huge potential in terms of repeat purchase behavior and loyalty of users. But on the flip side, I think for everyone, it's a challenging one from an economic perspective. And so there's a lot of experimentation and innovation going on there as we try to figure out what is the most appropriate model for our region, and with which partners it would make the most sense to do that.

這種模式是指他們的庫存會送到我們的物流中心，然後由我們透過 MELI 物流進行配送。從消費者的角度來看，這始終是最佳的使用者體驗，因為我們對物流和整個端到端購買流程擁有最大的控制權。所以，這是我們在超市領域持續探索的成果。我認為，儘管從損益表的角度來看，這個細分品類的經濟效益一直在改善，但仍充滿挑戰。它在用戶重複購買和忠誠度方面潛力巨大。但另一方面，我認為對所有人來說，從經濟角度來看，這都是一個挑戰。因此，我們正在進行大量的實驗和創新，努力尋找最適合我們地區的模式，以及與哪些合作夥伴合作最為有效。

And our next question comes from João Soares from Citi.

下一個問題來自花旗銀行的 João Soares。

Just a very quick one on my side. I was just hoping to get Pedro on margins overall. I mean, 2022 was clearly a very impressive year in terms of margin expansion, just look at this fourth quarter. And so as you go into 2023, I mean there are a lot of moving parts advancing on the Ad business, which clearly has a very robust margins and also -- but at the same time, we're talking about reaccelerating the 1P business, which even though has a fairly better economics. It's a business that in the past, it was a bit of a margin drag. So I was just hoping to get your overall view in terms of how should we think about margins for 2023?

我這邊有個簡短的問題。我只是想聽聽佩德羅對整體利潤率的看法。我的意思是，2022 年的利潤率擴張非常顯著，看看第四季就知道了。展望 2023 年，廣告業務有很多方面都在推進，而廣告業務的利潤率顯然非常強勁。同時，我們也在討論如何重新加速 1P 業務的發展，儘管 1P 業務的經濟效益相當不錯，但它過去一直是利潤率的拖累因素。所以我想聽聽您對 2023 年利潤率的整體看法。

Sure. So as you know, we don't guide, but I still think it's a valid question. So directionally, we remain very consistent in saying that we try to manage the financial model for consistent sequential annual increase in EBIT dollars, ideally also modest, but consistent margin expansion. That depends a little bit on what happens in terms of mix shift, but we do try to manage the different businesses and the different sub business units to deliver margin expansion year-on-year-on-year going forward. Yet at the same time, we still continue to see ourselves as a company that wants to deliver market share gains, continue consolidating its leadership position. And as you mentioned in your question, have a lot of bets on many different future growth engines that today are, in many cases, negative EBIT businesses that we continue to see and we are committed to.

當然。如您所知，我們不提供業績指引，但我仍然認為這是一個合理的問題。就方向而言，我們始終堅持努力實現息稅前利潤（EBIT）逐年穩定成長，理想情況下，利潤率也能實現適度但持續的提升。這在一定程度上取決於產品組合的變化，但我們會努力管理不同的業務和子業務單元，以實現利潤率的逐年增長。同時，我們仍然將自身定位為一家致力於提升市場佔有率、鞏固市場領先地位的公司。正如您在問題中提到的，我們對許多未來的成長引擎進行了大量的投資，其中許多目前息稅前利潤為負，但我們仍然專注並致力於這些業務。

So as always, I think it's consistent sequential increase in EBIT dollars, ideally margin expansion, but don't necessarily assume that the kind of leverage we deliver in 1 year, you can linearly extrapolate to the next year. I think if we do deliver on this consistency, when we look out 3 to 5 years, we have a very, very healthy P&L in our hands, primarily if many of these bets that today lose money begin to through scale and operational efficiencies become profitable business and then the mix in our portfolio between those that are early bets and don't have attractive EBIT generation capacity, and those that do get increasingly skewed more and more towards more consolidated scaled out positive margin businesses.

所以，一如既往，我認為關鍵在於息稅前利潤（EBIT）的持續成長，理想情況下是利潤率的提升。但不要想當然地認為，我們一年內實現的槓桿效應可以線性外推到下一年。我認為，如果我們能夠維持這種持續成長，展望未來3到5年，我們的損益表將會非常健康。這主要取決於目前許多虧損的項目能否透過規模擴張和營運效率的提升而獲利。屆時，我們投資組合中那些早期投資且息稅前利潤能力不強的項目，與那些具備盈利能力且規模龐大、利潤率高的項目之間的比例將會越來越高。

And our next question comes from Kaio Prato from UBS.

下一個問題來自瑞銀集團的 Kaio Prato。

I have one question about profitability as well, but specifically on the FinTech business. I know that you don't disclose exact numbers, but if you could please share with us how is the sort of the segment moving across your 3 main geographies today, is it moving (inaudible) were not and what is driving this? If you in the payments business? And finally, your expectations going forward (inaudible).

我也有一個關於獲利能力的問題，特別是關於金融科技業務。我知道你們不公開具體數字，但能否請你們分享一下目前貴公司三大主要市場中該業務板塊的發展情況？是正在發展（聽不清楚）還是停滯不前？是什麼因素在推動這趨勢？如果貴公司從事支付業務，情況又如何？最後，您對未來的預期是什麼？ （聽不清楚）

Sure. So on a consolidated basis, and again, these are not reporting segments. So this is to give you directional understanding of the businesses on a consolidated basis. The credit portion within FinTech, we disclosed interest margins after losses. And I think we've discussed that the operational expenses there are relatively low given that there are low spend in acquisition. A lot of the distribution is done to our existing, either Mercado Pago or MercadoLibre users. So the credit business is a very profitable business. The online payments business which is the merchant acquisition business is also a profitable business with expanding and fairly attractive margin, still very directionally 150 basis points of TPV.

當然。所以，從合併層面來看，再次強調，這些並非報告分部。這樣做是為了讓您從合併層面大致了解各項業務的狀況。在金融科技領域的信貸業務中，我們揭露了扣除虧損後的息差。我認為我們已經討論過，鑑於獲客支出較低，該業務的營運費用也相對較低。大部分經銷都針對我們現有的Mercado Pago或MercadoLibre用戶。因此，信貸業務是一項非常獲利的業務。線上支付業務，也就是商家獲客業務，也是獲利業務，利潤率不斷成長且相當可觀，目前TPV約為150個基點。

The MPOS business, which is also a merchant acquisition business is a profitable business with slightly lower margins than online payments, but still positive and a strong contributor of overall EBIT. And then when we look at the franchise, we're trying to build in terms of the consumer financial services business, so the digital wallet, the core digital banks, some of the savings text products, the consumer credit cards, those continue to be areas that do not have positive EBIT yet, but are very significant bets for the future and that have shown very consistent improvements on the economics over the last few years.

行動POS業務（同時也是商家拓展業務）獲利狀況良好，雖然利潤率略低於線上支付，但仍為正，並且是整體息稅前利潤的重要貢獻者。再來看特許經營業務，我們正在努力拓展消費者金融服務業務，包括數位錢包、核心數位銀行、部分儲蓄簡訊產品以及消費信用卡等。這些領域的息稅前利潤目前尚未轉正，但它們是未來非常重要的投資，並且在過去幾年中持續改善了獲利狀況。

And then the final overlay on top of that, which is still fairly small in terms of volume, but very attractive from a margin perspective is the Insurtech business that continues to grow and is already on pace to deliver tens of millions of dollars of annualized EBIT.

最後，還有一項業務，雖然規模仍然很小，但從利潤率的角度來看卻非常有吸引力，那就是保險科技業務，該業務持續增長，並且已經有望實現數千萬美元的年度息稅前利潤。

And our next question comes from Neha Agarwala from HSBC.

下一個問題來自匯豐銀行的Neha Agarwala。

First question on your e-commerce business, which showed very strong trends during 2022 with strong market share gains also in some of the markets. What should we directionally expect in 2023? Any headwinds in the e-commerce business that we should be aware of or should be mindful of in any of the markets? And my second question is on the credit book. So the credit book growth has almost all for the last 2 quarters. Are you seeing improved or stable asset quality, at least in the beginning of 2023, which could encourage you to start picking up originations in the first or second quarter of this year? Or are you still going to be in a conservative mode? And why you are being conservative in unsecured lending products? Are there any new products that you are thinking about to propel growth in the current environment?

第一個問題是關於貴公司的電子商務業務。 2022年，貴公司的電子商務業務發展勢頭強勁，部分市場的份額也大幅成長。我們對2023年的發展方向有何預期？在電子商務領域，我們是否應該注意或應對任何市場可能出現的不利因素？第二個問題是關於信貸業務。過去兩個季度，貴公司的信貸業務幾乎全部成長。您認為2023年初，貴公司的資產品質是否有改善或維持穩定？這是否會促使貴公司在今年第一季或第二季開始增加貸款發放？或者貴公司仍將保持謹慎？貴公司為何在無擔保貸款產品方面保持謹慎？貴公司是否正在考慮推出任何新產品以在當前環境下推動成長？

So let me take the first one. I think in terms of significant headwinds that we anticipate for the commerce business with the exception of whatever happens at a macro level, and that's information that's available to everyone. I don't think we're honing in on anything. We've seen some consistent take rate improvements in the fourth quarter, a lot of that driven by advertising revenues and the incremental monetization on shipping and logistics that I referred to earlier. And those are levers that if we execute accordingly should continue to be present.

那麼，讓我先回答第一個問題。我認為，除了宏觀層面的因素（這是人人都能獲得的資訊）之外，我們預期電商業務將面臨許多不利因素。我們並沒有特別關注哪些方面。第四季度，我們的轉換率持續提升，這主要得益於廣告收入的成長以及我之前提到的物流和運輸業務的增量變現。如果我們能妥善執行這些策略，它們應該會繼續發揮作用。

We did see some drag on take rate from reduced 1P sales in the fourth quarter of this year versus last year. And if anything, I've signaled that we feel we've hit a turning point in terms of the 1P business, and we can cautiously reaccelerate that again. And so that should also be incremental in terms of take rates. And as we aspire to continue gaining share, that should -- if we execute well again, maintain us on pace to continue to deliver strong GMV trends as well.

今年第四季度，由於1P銷售額較去年同期下降，我們確實看到了佣金率的下滑。但我認為，1P業務已經迎來轉捩點，我們可以謹慎地再次加速發展。因此，佣金率也應該會有所提升。如果我們能夠繼續保持良好的執行力，並努力擴大市場份額，那麼這將使我們能夠繼續保持強勁的GMV成長動能。

With regards to the credit book, yes, we have -- we have seen good results in the last quarters, but again, we will wait until we see market conditions improving before we decide to be more aggressive again with regards to risk taking and to growth of the portfolio. We don't guide, and it's difficult to foresee exactly when that will happen. And when we see that happening, we will be more aggressive. And in terms of new products, the one product we are pilot testing by now is car loans. It's still very, very, very small. We're just pilot testing it in Brazil. We believe that it's a product that is interesting because it has a strong synergy with our marketplace.

關於信貸業務，是的，我們在過去幾季取得了不錯的業績，但我們仍需等待市場環境改善後，才會決定是否在風險承擔和投資組合成長方面採取更積極的策略。我們不提供業績指引，也很難準確預測市場何時會好轉。一旦市場環境好轉，我們將採取更積極的策略。至於新產品，我們目前正在試行測試的產品是汽車貸款。規模仍然非常非常小，我們只在巴西進行試點。我們認為這款產品很有潛力，因為它與我們現有的市場體系具有強烈的協同效應。

The one thing that maybe I would highlight here is, I recall when we entered the credit business, one of the understandable concerns that existed was how would we deal as a growth company where most businesses are focused on growth with something like credit where risk management and caution many times are necessary. And if I look back at '22, and we need to reprove ourselves constantly in terms of our risk management capabilities, but I do think it's been very interesting in that the backdrop for credit has been extremely negative.

我想在這裡重點強調一點，我記得我們剛進入信貸業務時，當時大家普遍擔心，作為一家專注於成長的成長型公司，我們該如何應對信貸這種風險管理和謹慎行事的領域。回顧2022年，我們確實需要不斷證明自身的風險管理能力，但我認為，信貸市場的整體環境極為糟糕，這一點也很有意思。

And when you look at how we managed it, the timing with which we slowed down originations and focused on higher-quality segments, and the kind of results that you've seen, I think, really gives that team a very strong grade in terms of how they've manage risk within a very tough macro. I think we've been through both a pandemic and now extremely challenging consumer credit environment, primarily in Brazil, and both of those have been managed from a risk perspective and a focus on profitability perspective, very, very successfully. And that's the way we'd like to continue to manage that going forward.

當你審視我們的應對方式，包括我們放緩貸款發放速度、專注於更高品質細分市場的時機把握，以及你所看到的成果，我認為，這充分體現了團隊在如此嚴峻的宏觀經濟環境下有效管控風險的能力。我們經歷了疫情以及如今極具挑戰性的消費信貸環境（主要集中在巴西），而從風險管理和盈利能力角度來看，我們都取得了非常成功的應對。我們希望未來繼續沿用這種管理方式。

And our next question comes from Deepak Mathivanan from Wolfe Research.

下一個問題來自 Wolfe Research 的 Deepak Mathivanan。

Pedro, many companies here in the U.S. are very focused on improving efficiencies this year. How do you feel about the productivity at the company level at MercadoLibre? And then how should we think about headcount additions for this year in your plans? And then second question, on the competitive landscape in Brazil currently with all the recent developments, should we think about any strategy shifts on your side? Particularly with the 1P business, given all these developments?

佩德羅，今年美國很多公司都非常重視提高效率。您如何看待MercadoLibre公司層面的生產力？今年的人員擴充計畫又該如何安排？第二個問題，鑑於巴西目前的競爭格局以及近期的發展，您是否應該考慮調整策略？特別是考慮到這些變化，您的1P業務又該如何應對？

Sure. So I'll answer in reverse order. Our strategy does not change based on what is happening with competitors. I think our tactics do adapt at the margin. And as we mentioned earlier, we will lean into specific opportunities that may arise if market share becomes available given changes in market structure and competitive dynamics. But I wouldn't say our strategy changes one bit.

當然。那我反過來回答。我們的策略不會因為競爭對手的動向而改變。我認為我們的戰術會做出一些細微調整。正如我們之前提到的，如果市場結構和競爭格局發生變化，出現市場份額提升的機會，我們會抓住這些機會。但我不會說我們的策略有任何改變。

On your first point, I think we've had a lot of conversations internally about this in that MELI in a way is -- in an island within the tech world and that no layoffs. If anything, we've said we will continue to increase the size of our engineering teams, we see that as a key competitive advantage. And one where because we were disciplined throughout the pandemic, I don't think we over-hired or we overspent on capacity by and large. That puts us in a unique position now where we can continue to hire.

關於您提到的第一點，我認為我們內部已經就此進行了很多討論，因為MELI在某種程度上就像科技界的一座孤島，所以我們不會裁員。相反，我們表示會繼續擴大工程團隊的規模，我們認為這是我們的關鍵競爭優勢。而且，由於我們在疫情期間一直保持著嚴格的紀律，我認為我們總體上沒有出現過度招聘或產能超支的情況。這使我們現在處於一個獨特的地位，可以繼續招募。

But having said that, I think the rate of hiring will slow down versus what it was over the last few years, but we will continue to grow the engineering team. And in terms of headcount across business and staff positions, again, there no downsizing necessary because we remain disciplined over the past few years. But the speed of incremental hires will probably decelerate even more so than the engineering talent. And then logistics and customer service are much more variable costs, and those are input output driven. So the growth there will reflect the growth in transactions and GMV that are really the KPI in determining how fast those organizations need to grow.

但話雖如此，我認為招募速度會比過去幾年放緩，但我們會繼續壯大工程團隊。至於業務和員工職位的人員數量，由於過去幾年我們一直保持嚴格的人員控制，因此無需裁員。但新增招募的速度可能會比工程人才的招募速度放緩得更快。物流和客戶服務的成本變動性更大，而且這些成本是受投入產出所驅動。因此，這些部門的成長將反映在交易量和商品交易總額（GMV）的成長上，而這才是決定這些部門成長速度的關鍵績效指標（KPI）。

And our next question comes from Stephen Ju from Credit Suisse.

下一個問題來自瑞士信貸的 Stephen Ju。

So Pedro, just kind of building on one of the comments you made earlier. Can you talk about the adoption levels for your fulfillment services in Mexico? And why it has charged ahead there relative to the other markets? Is the profile of the seller different? Or are there other factors or products at play? And conceptually, are there any impediments for Brazil and some of the other markets to get to Mexico's level?

佩德羅，我接著你之前提到的一個問題繼續問。可以談談你們的物流服務在墨西哥的普及程度嗎？為什麼它在其他市場發展如此迅速？是賣家的組成有所不同嗎？還是有其他因素或產品在起作用？從概念上講，巴西和其他一些市場要達到墨西哥的水平，是否有任何障礙？

So Mexico for the fourth quarter actually crossed the 70% mark for the first time ever in terms of the service mix within the different shipping types that we offer. So 70% of shipments in Mexico actually initiate in one of our fulfillment centers. I think there's a combination of market dynamics, merchant profiles and execution is always that has led Mexico to be so far ahead of the other markets. Brazil, if I can round, finally hit the 40% mark. So it has been growing over the past 4 quarters, at a slower pace, but continuing to grow and trend in the right direction. Chile is over 30%.

因此，墨西哥第四季各類運輸方式的服務佔比首次突破70%。也就是說，墨西哥70%的貨件都是從我們的物流中心發出的。我認為，市場動態、商家特徵以及執行力等因素共同促成了墨西哥遙遙領先其他市場。巴西（四捨五入後）終於達到40%了。過去四個季度，巴西的業務一直在成長，雖然成長較慢，但仍在持續成長，並朝著正確的方向發展。智利的業務佔比也超過了30%。

Argentina and Colombia also continue to grow. So I don't think there are structural impediments to getting to Mexico levels or at least to continue to grow significantly. The pace at which we are able to grow the fulfillment service in the other markets clearly varies from geo to geo. If you consider that Chile was launched significantly after Brazil and is on its way to catch up to Brazil, I think is further indication of that. But no, we don't see any structural impediments to continue pushing the adoption of fulfillment. And the reason that, that is a desired outcome is because it delivers faster delivery times, greater control over the experience, higher Net Promoter Scores.

阿根廷和哥倫比亞也在持續成長。所以我認為，在達到墨西哥的水平，或至少繼續保持顯著增長方面，不存在任何結構性障礙。我們在其他市場拓展履約服務的速度顯然因地理而異。智利的履約服務推出時間比巴西晚得多，目前正在努力追趕巴西，這進一步印證了這一點。但我們並未看到任何阻礙我們繼續推廣履約服務的結構性障礙。之所以說這是理想的結果，是因為它能帶來更快的配送速度、更強的客戶體驗掌控力以及更高的淨推薦值。

And our next question comes from John Colantuoni from Jefferies.

下一個問題來自傑富瑞集團的約翰·科蘭圖奧尼。

So as you get closer to clean comparison periods, can you give us your perspective on the runway for e-commerce adoption across your key geographies? Certainly, the pandemic helped close the gap to other regions. So I'm curious if recent trends in customer adoption and trial still point to a long runway for adoption? And then secondly, sticking with customer behavior, can you just talk a little bit about how engagement, repeat rates of cohorts acquired in recent quarters compared to pre-pandemic cohorts?

隨著對比期臨近，您能否談談您對主要地區電子商務普及前景的看法？疫情無疑縮小了與其他地區的差距。因此，我很好奇近期客戶採納和試用情況的趨勢是否仍然表明電子商務普及還有很長的路要走？其次，繼續探討客戶行為，您能否簡單談談與疫情前相比，最近幾季新增客戶群的參與度和復購率有何變化？

So Latin America has been interesting in that. It doesn't seem to have had the effect as physical retail reopened of a return to physical retail to a point where the market began to shrink. The market has continued to grow. Obviously, it slowed down significant from pandemic type growth. But I think even if you look at a Mexico or Brazil, which are the most advanced markets, we still expect market growth to be somewhere in the mid- to high teens. And we do strive, as always, to gain share on top of that. So we still feel it's early days in terms of the shift from off-line to online retail. We think the pandemic accelerated that shift. And we also think that consumers have found in their online purchasing, a compelling enough value proposition that a lot of that gained consumer consumption has stayed online. And so we continue to be optimistic about the long-term prospects of e-commerce throughout the region.

因此，拉丁美洲的情況很有意思。實體零售重新開放後，似乎並沒有出現實體零售市場萎縮的情況，反而持續成長。當然，疫情帶來的成長速度明顯放緩。但我認為，即使是墨西哥或巴西這樣最發達的市場，我們仍然預期市場成長率將維持在15%到10%之間。而且，我們一如既往地致力於在此基礎上進一步擴大市場份額。因此，我們仍然認為從線下零售到線上零售的轉變還處於早期階段。我們認為疫情加速了這一轉變。我們也認為，消費者已經發現線上購物具有足夠吸引力的價值主張，因此，許多新增的消費都留在了線上。所以，我們仍然對整個地區電子商務的長期前景持樂觀態度。

In terms of cohorts, retention cohorts are certainly much higher than they were pre-pandemic. And frequency -- sorry, not frequency and average usage has been flattish over the last year or so, which means that it remains in line overall with where it went to throughout the pandemic. So we haven't been able to continue to grow unit usage since the pandemic, but we have been able to maintain it relatively in line with much better retention per user and higher engagement than pre-pandemic numbers.

就使用者群體而言，留存率肯定比疫情前高出許多。而使用頻率——抱歉，不是使用頻率，而是平均使用量——在過去一年左右的時間里基本保持平穩，這意味著它總體上與疫情期間的水平基本一致。因此，自疫情以來，我們未能繼續提高用戶使用量，但我們成功地將其維持在相對穩定的水平，同時用戶留存率和用戶參與度都遠高於疫情前水平。

And now I would like to turn the call back over to Pedro, MercadoLibre's Chief Financial Officer, for closing remarks.

現在，我想把電話轉回給 MercadoLibre 的財務長 Pedro，請他做總結發言。

Great. So thank you, everyone. I think we've concluded a phenomenal 2022 with a very strong fourth quarter. It was a year where we hit 100, 10, 1, over $100 billion of payments processed, over $10 billion of revenue, and over $1 billion of EBIT. So congratulations to all the MercadoLibre team for the phenomenal work. And to our shareholders and stakeholders, rest assured that we're already back at work to ideally be able to deliver an equally successful 2023 on behalf of our consumers and our shareholders. Thank you, and we look forward to updating you on things once the first quarter is over.

太好了。非常感謝大家。我認為我們以非常強勁的第四季業績為精彩的2022年畫上了圓滿的句號。在這一年裡，我們實現了支付處理額超過1000億美元、營收超過100億美元以及息稅前利潤超過10億美元的里程碑。在此，我要祝賀MercadoLibre團隊所有成員的卓越工作。同時，也請各位股東和利害關係人放心，我們已經重新投入工作，力爭在2023年為我們的消費者和股東帶來同樣輝煌的業績。謝謝大家，我們期待在第一季結束後向大家報告最新進展。

This concludes today's conference call. Thank you for participating. You may now disconnect.

今天的電話會議到此結束。感謝您的參與。您可以斷開連線了。