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- Freelancer.com (FLN) smashed records across the board in its latest quarterly report with all-time high revenue and cash receipts
- The outsourcing marketplace company posted a gross payment volume of US$192.9 million (roughly A$249.7 million) over the March 2021 quarter
- However, Freelancer said given most of its revenue is recorded in U.S. dollars, an appreciating Australian dollar was a 17.4 per cent headwind for the company
- As such, the strong gross payment volume is an increase of 39 per cent year-on-year in U.S. dollar terms but only 18.8 per cent in Australian dollars
- Nevertheless, the Freelancer.com website grew users by 105.7 per cent to 16.4 million over the quarter
- Still, Freelancer’s Escrow.com business hit its own record, with gross payment volume (GPV) over the March quarter of US$158.2 million (around A$203 million)
- This is 43.7 per cent higher than the same time last year
- Shares in Freelancer closed 3.25 per cent higher at 80 cents per share this afternoon
Freelancer.com (FLN) smashed records across the board in its latest quarterly report with all-time high revenue and cash receipts.
The online outsourcing marketplace business tabled a gross payment volume of US$192.9 million (roughly A$249.7 million) over the March 2021 quarter.
In U.S. dollar terms, this is an increase of 39 per cent compared to the same time period last year. However, Freelancer said an appreciating Australian dollar over the past year was a 17.4 per cent headwind for the company, with the Aussie dollar rising from 65.81 U.S. cents this time last year to 77.26 U.S. cents in 2021.
As such, the increase in gross payment volume was 18.8 per cent in Australian dollar terms.
Similarly, net cash receipts for Freelancer came in at US$12 million over the March quarter, which is a 32.1 per cent year-on-year increase. In Australian dollars, this figure exchanges to A$15.6 million, or a 12.4 per cent increase year-on-year.
Nevertheless, Freelancer was cashflow-positive by $4.2 million over the March 2021 quarter, compared to the March 2020 quarter’s $470,000, and the company has cash and cash equivalents of just under $38 million at the end of March this year — an 8.2 per cent increase compared to this time last year.
According to Freelancer, around 72 per cent of all revenue is recorded in U.S. dollars, while Australian dollars make up just 4 per cent.
Core business holding strong
Freelancer’s namesake business segment, Freelancer.com, posted its fastest gross marketplace volume (GMV) growth since the company’s initial public offering, up 23.6 per cent to US$25.9 million (up 5.1 per cent to roughly A$33.6 million due to exchange rate differences).
Freelancer’s cash receipts grew 31.4 per cent to US$10.1 million, or 11.8 per cent to A$13.1 million.
The strong revenue growth was driven by a 105.7 per cent increase in Freelancer.com users to 16.4 million over the quarter.
Direct traffic was up 120.1 per cent year-on-year, while Freelancer.com climbed in Alexa’s ranking system from the 1190th largest website in the world at the end of March 2020 to 561st in the world this year.
According to the company, Freelancer.com is the world’s largest marketplace by freelance talent by number of users, with more liquidity, breadth and depth of taken, skills and experience than any other competitor globally.
However, this segment of Freelancer’s business was still not the biggest contributor to total group revenue over the March quarter.
Escrow.com driving growth
Freelancer’s transaction protection business arm, Escrow.com, hit its own record gross payment volume (GPV) over the March quarter of US$158.2 million (around A$203 million) — 43.7 per cent higher than the same time last year.
Escrow is designed to reduce the risk of scams and fraud when online shopping by acting as a middle-man between the buyer and the seller. The company collects the money paid for a product and holds on to it until conditions laid out by the two parties are confirmed. Escrow then transfers the funds to the seller.
Freelancer said over the March 2021 quarter, Escrow.com surpassed a milestone of a cumulative US$5 billion (around A$6.4 billion) in transactions secures through the platform.
In July 2020, Escrow was chosen by online car sales giant eBay Motors to protect vehicle purchases made through the eBay platform. Users are able to use Escrow’s services directly from eBay Motor’s website and mobile app under the deal with eBay.
Following today’s report, Freelancer shares closed 3.25 per cent higher at 80 cents each. The company has a $356.5 million market cap.
