The Uruguayan unicorn, dLocal, is going through a complex situation caused by the drop in the value of its shares in the last month, after last year’s headaches due to fraud complaints and legal fights in Argentina.
On Tuesday the fintech listed on the market Nasdaq of the NYSE once again suffered a drop in the value of its shares, reaching its historical minimum. Only on Tuesday, dLocal stock fell 2.1% and closed a new record low of $8.62.
The decline in its shares deepened when its quarterly results were published on May 14. There, the value of the company’s shares were quoted at 13.58. From that moment on, the value of its shares did not stop falling, causing a total drop of 36.5% in just three weeks.
Thus, the value of the company went from 3,924 million dollars at the beginning of May to 2,491 dollars yesterday, thus decreasing its market capitalization by 1,433 million dollars in just three weeks.
Numbers that worry
In the first quarter of the year, the unicorn of Uruguay reflected an interannual drop of 50.1% in its profits, which became 17.72 million dollars, affected by a decrease in the ebitda profit.
Although the income of the company increased by 34% compared to the same period in 2023, reaching $184 million, the figure decreased by 2% compared to the previous quarter, losing ground in Argentina, although growing in Brazil and Mexico.
In fact, in its previous report, the fintech reported that last year it generated revenues of 650 million dollars and a total payment volume of 17.7 billion, but its titles also fell, possibly due to the drop in earnings per share, which in the fourth quarter of 2023 were 0.10 dollars, when the analysts’ expectation was 0.15 dollars, as published by the specialized site Investing.
Complaints and problems with Argentina
Since last year, Uruguayan fintech has been going through different headaches that do not only have to do with the performance of its shares and its profits. Another of the problems that compromises the company are the complaints and judicial problems it had in Argentina.
The actions of dLocal suffered another turbulence in mid-June of last year, when they reached $9.82 amid complaints from the government of Argentina, that pointed to the signature money laundering under the accusation of “fraud” or “scam”, which even generated rumors of sale.
The then Minister of Economy, Sergio Massa, accused the company of leaking currency worth up to $400 million, which prompted a class-action shareholder lawsuit months later sponsored by the New York law firm, Pomerantz.
From the neighboring country, also the General Directorate of Customs analyzed the 2022 fintech transactions and discovered payments from people who never hired the services of a supposed educational institution, which sparked a scandal.
Source: Ambito
