Bloomberg Línea — Pedro Arnt is stepping down from his position as Chief Financial Officer at MercadoLibre to “take on new challenges outside the organization,” the company announced on Thursday. This move is part of a reshuffling of roles within the company’s top management. Martín de los Santos, the current VP of the credit business, will assume the role of the new CFO.
Santos holds an MBA from Stanford University and a Bachelor of Science from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Arnt, who joined MercadoLibre 24 years ago and steadily climbed the ranks, has played a pivotal role in the financial management and strategic decision-making of the company.
More Changes at the VP-level
Andrés Anavi, previously the Senior VP of Mercado Pago, will take over as the Senior VP of Mercado Crédito, replacing Martin Santos. Anavi, who became a part of MercadoLibre in 2021, previously served as a Managing Director and Partner at the Boston Consulting Group. He also held positions at Citigroup (C) and Goldman Sachs (GS). Anavi holds an MBA from Harvard Business School and a bachelor’s degree in Economics from Universidad de San Andres.
What’s Ahead for MercadoLibre
During the second quarter, MercadoLibre’s regional Gross Merchandise Volume (GMV) exceeded $10 billion for the first time, driven by strong performances in Brazil and Mexico. GMV for the first half of the year showed a 23% year-over-year increase. eMarketer’s half-year report indicates that this robust performance in the initial six months positions the company favorably for the latter half of the year. As per Insider Intelligence | eMarketer forecast, this trajectory puts MercadoLibre on track to achieve sales of nearly $41 billion by the end of 2023.
eMarketer also predicts that MercadoLibre’s share of Latin America’s digital advertising market will nearly double between 2021 and 2023, representing approximately 4% of the total digital ad spending by the year’s end.
In eMarketer’s latest retail and e-commerce forecasts for Latin America, the report reveals that last year’s growth in retail e-commerce sales in the region failed to surpass inflation for the first time since eMarketer began tracking the area in 2009. However, the research firm anticipates a rebound in growth for this year, potentially making Latin America the second-fastest growing e-commerce region, trailing behind the Middle East and Africa by a margin of 1.7 percentage points.
According to eMarketer, the region is also set to experience double-digit gains in e-commerce growth each year through 2027. The research company forecasts that by 2026, Latin America will become the world’s fastest-growing e-commerce market, a position it attained in 2020. Argentina, MercadoLibre’s home country, is projected to lead retail e-commerce sales growth in 2023, surpassing other countries like the Philippines, Malaysia, India, Mexico, Colombia, Indonesia, Vietnam, Canada, and Peru, according to eMarketer’s projections.