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Freelancer continues revenue growth and stabilises profit

Freelancer has posted its first public results, with the company growing revenue by 77 percent and net profit up by 3.5 percent.
Written by Chris Duckett, Contributor

Despite closing in on tenfold revenue growth over the past five years, Freelancer has finally posted successive years of profit after years of oscillation.

Releasing its results to the market for the first time since it went public in November, the company posted a net profit for FY13 of AU$0.75 million, up 3.5 percent on the FY12 number of AU$0.73 million. In prior years, the company had posted combined losses of AU$1 million occurring either side of an FY10 profit of AU$0.5 million.

Revenue-wise, Freelancer grew its takings by 77 percent from AU$10.6 million to AU$18.8 million for the year.

Freelancer CEO and chairman, Matt Barrie, commenting on the results said that it had been a spectacular year for the company.

"The result for FY13 has been driven by accelerated growth in our online marketplace, continued product development and site optimisation, and we are pleased to have exceeded our prospectus forecast," he said.

"The company has historically managed its operating cost base to be marginally profitable and cash flow positive with the aim of maximising reinvestment in product development and top-line growth, and is pleased to have done so in FY13."

No dividend will be given to shareholders of the AU$610 million company, of which founder Barrie continues to hold a 46 percent stake.

For the year added, Freelancer said it would be looking to improve its scalability, as well as expanding across job categories and markets.

"Over the decades to come, the rest of the world's population will be connecting — at an accelerating pace," Barrie said.

"More and more industries will be eaten by software, and more and more jobs will be performed with a computer and will head into the cloud."

At the time of writing, Freelancer's share price was down 2 percent, to AU$1.45.

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