Fintech dLocal posts fourth-quarter net profit up 4%

Adds details from statement throughout

By Sarah Morland

Feb 27 (Reuters) - Uruguayan fintech dLocal DLO.O on Thursday announced a fourth-quarter net profit of $29.7 million, up 4% from a year earlier but landing below the $44.7 million estimate of analysts polled by LSEG, with the boost partly driven by stronger volumes in Egypt.

Revenues for the payments provider, which operates across some 42 markets in Africa, Asia and Latin America, meanwhile jumped 9% to $204.5 million, broadly in line with the $206 million forecast by analysts.

For this year, the company predicted a total payments volume - the sum of its transactions - up 35% to 45%, bringing revenues up some 25% to 35% and its adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) up 20% to 30%.

"Looking ahead to 2025, we are confident in our ability to sustain momentum," the company said in the earnings report. "Our investments in technology, product innovation and market expansion position us well for growth."

The company said the results showed progress in an investment cycle that aims to continue scaling up the business.

DLocal launched in 2016 and quickly became Uruguay's first unicorn, or a private start-up valued at over $1 billion. Five years later, it listed in New York at a value of some $9.5 billion, though this has since dipped to around $4 billion.

The stock has, however, rallied some 22% since the start of this year.