By Micah Maidenberg

Technology firm StoneCo Ltd. said it moved to cut jobs as the Covid-19 pandemic weighed on its clients' businesses in the first quarter.

The company focused on e-commerce, payments and related services for smaller companies in Brazil on Tuesday said that in early May it decided to reduce its workforce by 20%. On May 12, the company said 1,300 people would be let go.

"Covid-19 hit Brazil hard in mid-March, when infections increased, physical commerce decreased, and economic uncertainty soared," the company said.

StoneCo said it generated total revenue of 716.8 million Brazilian reais ($130.3 million) for the first quarter, up from 535.8 million reais the year earlier.

Analysts polled by FactSet predicted 685 million reais in revenue for the latest period.

StoneCo reported net income of 158.6 million reais, down from 177 million reais in the first quarter of 2019. 



  Write to Micah Maidenberg at micah.maidenberg@wsj.com