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- Freelancer.com (FLN) remained steady over the 2020 calendar year despite the coronavirus wreaking havoc across some key markets
- The freelancing marketplace made a record $891.8 million in gross payment volume (GPV) over 2020, though revenue was flat on the year before
- However, Freelancer softened its annual loss compared to the year before, losing just $646,000 over 2020 compared to $1.6 million in 2019
- The company said it was actually profitable over the second quarter of the year, with a full-year net positive operating cashflow of almost $8 million
- Freelancer’s Escrow.com segment helped drive some major growth over the year, particularly in light of a July deal struck with eBay Motors
- Looking ahead, Freelancer says as far as its freelancing business is concerned, it has “never been in a better position with regards to product”
- Freelancer shares tacked on almost 3 per cent today to close at 54 cents per share
Freelancer.com (FLN) remained steady over the 2020 calendar year despite the coronavirus wreaking havoc across some key markets.
The freelancing and crowdsourcing marketplace made a record $891.8 million in gross payment volume (GPV) over 2020, which is 13 per cent higher compared to the year before.
While full-year revenue was largely flat on the year before, at just under $59 million, Freelancer managed to improve its net loss by almost 60 per cent.
The company lost $646,000 over 2020 compared to the $1.6 million loss in 2019, which is an encouraging result considering the hurdles faced over the COVID-19 pandemic.
Importantly, Freelancer said it was profitable over the second quarter of the year and, despite the loss, the company is still trending towards overall profitability.
Freelancer had a net positive operating cash flow of almost $8 million over 2020.
The company said over the first quarter of 2020, Chinese freelancers had troubles with work continuity due to the coronavirus, so revenue during this quarter was impacted.
However, throughout the remainder of the year, this segment’s revenue was up by 10 per cent on the prior corresponding period.
Freelancer added 8.9 million new registered users over 2020, ending the year with 50.8 million total users across its business posting 19.1 million jobs over the year.
Escrow.com helping drive growth
Freelancer’s Escrow.com segment hit record GPV of just under $700 million over 2020, which is 15.4 per cent higher than the year before.
According to Freelance, the last four months of trade were particularly strong for Escrow, with fourth-quarter revenue up 33.4 per cent at $2.4 million compared to the same quarter in 2019.
Escrow was chosen by online car selling giant eBay Motors to help protect vehicle purchases made through eBay’s car selling arm in July 2020.
As part of the eBay-Escrow partnership, consumers are able to use Escrow’s services directly from the eBay Motors website and mobile app to both buy and sell cars with peace-of-mind.
Essentially, Escrow reduces the risk of scams and fraud when shopping online by acting as a middle-man between the buyer and the seller; Escrow collects the money paid for a product and holds it until all conditions laid out by the two parties are confirmed, and Escrow then transfers the funds to the seller.
What’s next?
Looking ahead, Freelancer said as far as its freelancing business is concerned, it has “never been in a better position with regards to product”.
The company said it is finishing up a front-end overhaul work, with most of its product migrated, and mobile web fees now running from the same code base. For 2021, the company said it will be initially focussing on user experience, design, application programming interface, and collaboration.
For the Escrow business, Freelancer said it is seeing an increased demand for luxury and collectible items in 2021, and this is expected to continue throughout the year.
Escrow is busy actively integrating with three other marketplaces on top of eBay to grow its payment protection business.
All up, FLN had $34.4 million of cash and cash equivalents at the end of December 2020.
Freelancer shares tacked on 2.83 per cent today to close at 54 cents per share.
