In brief: Mercari reports $10m quarterly loss

Japanese ecommerce startup Mercari, which went public last year with great fanfare, booked a quarterly loss of 1.1 billion yen (US$10 million) and warned of more losses ahead as it spends heavily to expand in the US market.

Mercari’s smartphone app, which allows people to trade used items online, is well-known in Japan but has made only a small headway in the US market where it faces tough competition from established sites such as eBay and Craigslist.

Source: Reuters

The operational loss was more than double what Mercari had reported the previous year. The company said that spend on its overseas expansion plans could lead to even bigger losses in the coming quarters.

Mercari clocked 138.9 billion yen (US$1.26 billion) in merchandise sales between October and December last year, up 50 percent from the same period a year earlier.

The Japanese startup achieved unicorn status in March 2016 following a US$74 million series D round. It raised US$1.2 billion in its debut on the Tokyo Stock Exchange in June 2018.

Currency converted from Japanese yen. Rate: US$1 = JP¥110.05