\u00a0<\/p>\n
Airtasker achieves positive free cash flow of $2.5 million in Q3 FY24, a $5.1 million improvement on the prior corresponding period (pcp)<\/strong> \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n Special Report: Airtasker, an online marketplace for local services, has announced its second consecutive quarter of positive free cash flow.<\/strong><\/p>\n Founded in 2012, Sydney based Airtasker (ASX:ART)<\/strong><\/a> provides an\u00a0online marketplace\u00a0where users can\u00a0outsource\u00a0everyday tasks to other community members, who then bid to complete the task.<\/p>\n After another strong result in Q3 FY24, ART<\/strong><\/a> says it remains confident of delivering full year FY24 positive free cash flow.<\/p>\n ART says the latest result was achieved by growing ART marketplace revenue by 11.5% to $10.1m and delivering solid group revenue of $12.2m whilst at the same time improving operating efficiency and reducing total operating expenditure by 6.4% on pcp.<\/p>\n Cash flow from operating activities for Q3 FY24 was $3.1m, up $4.3m on pcp. Q3 FY24 was the third consecutive quarter of positive operating cash flow for ART, delivering a total of $4.5m in positive operating cash flow over the first three quarters of FY24.<\/p>\n Against Q2 FY24 cash flow from operating activities improved $2.4m, reflecting a 46.4% decrease in payments for operating costs due to the timing of annual software subscription renewals and a 40.3% decrease in marketing payments.<\/p>\n ART says the Q2 FY24 included payments related to the production of the \u2018Airtasker. Yeahtasker!\u2019 creative assets.<\/p>\n Given the strong Q3 FY24 free cash flow result, and with northern hemisphere seasonality peaking in Q4 FY24, ART expects to accelerate international growth through investment in several marketing initiatives during this quarter.<\/p>\n \u201cWe remain confident of delivering full year FY24 positive free cashflow,\u201d the company says.<\/p>\n In the ART marketplace, the strong revenue result was driven by a recovery in consumer demand (posted tasks) from the previous year as well as successful funnel optimisation programs.<\/p>\n The company revised its cancellation policy designed to improve platform reliability and address task leakage.\u00a0 As a result cancellations reduced by 23.9% on pcp resulting in the monetisation rate improving by 12.8% on pcp to 20.5%.<\/p>\n ART finished the quarter with $19.7m in cash and term deposits on balance sheet and zero debt.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n\n Source: ART<\/em><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n ART says a key strategy to build the number 1 marketplace for local services in Australia was a media-for-equity partnership between the company and Seven West Media (ASX:SWM).<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n The company says the partnership enabled it to build a trusted household brand name and scale network effects rapidly, resulting in 20x revenue growth and a 5x investment return for SWM\u00a0 over five years.<\/p>\n The model is now being replicated by ART to drive rapid scale in the UK, with the company forming a five-year media-for-equity partnership with Channel 4 in the UK in June 2023.<\/p>\n The deal provides ART with an initial $6.7m in advertising media and access to Channel 4\u2019s reach of 47 million UK people or 78% of the UK population.<\/p>\n Following the successful release of the UK television advertising campaign \u2018Airtasker. Yeahtasker!\u2019 in Q2 FY24, ART says marketplace demand continued to accelerate in Q3 FY24 with posted tasks up 49.1% on pcp.<\/p>\n Seasonally, marketplace activity in the northern hemisphere is strongest in the third and fourth quarters, during spring and summer.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n\n Source: ART<\/em><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n In the UK, ART\u2019s marketplaces demonstrated strong performance during the quarter with trailing twelve months (TTM) gross marketplace volume (GMV) up 12.3% on pcp to \u00a34.1m\u00a0 (A$7.8m) and TTM revenue up 30.6% on pcp to \u00a3574k (A$1.1m) as a result of strong growth in posted tasks.<\/p>\n In Airtasker\u2019s US marketplaces GMV increased 23.0% on pcp to US$533k\u00a0 (A$806k) and revenue increased 102.1% on pcp to US$64k (A$96k) during the quarter.<\/p>\n In the US, ART says it\u2019s seeing healthy growth in marketplace activity while maintaining a disciplined approach to investment as the company explores several media partnership opportunities.<\/p>\n ART\u2019s marketplaces fall into two business segments, being the established marketplaces segment and the new marketplaces segment plus global head office expenditure which is not directly attributable to a segment.<\/p>\n Geographic operations are segmented based on the maturity of the marketplaces as economics differ at each stage of growth.<\/p>\n The ART Australia and Oneflare Australia marketplaces are at the \u2018scaling\u2019 stage as they have established user bases and operations and represent the established marketplaces segment.<\/p>\n International marketplaces, particularly in the US and the UK, are at the \u2018zero to one\u2019 and one to 100\u2019 stages, respectively, as they have less established user bases and operations and represent the new marketplaces segment.<\/p>\n The company is continuing to invest in establishing and growing its international marketplaces.<\/p>\n During Q3 FY24, ART\u2019s established marketplaces delivered positive Australian net EBITDA of $3.9m, after contributing to all global head office expenditure.<\/p>\n Group EBITDA was $600k, which included a $3.3m net investment in new marketplaces, including marketing and amortisation of media advertising assets.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Founder and CEO Tim Fung says he\u2019s pleased ART has delivered a second straight quarter of positive free cash flow.<\/p>\n \u201cWe are well ahead of plan to deliver on our promise of positive free cash flow for FY24,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n \u201cWith consumer demand recovering and our continued focus on the core product experience, we\u2019ve seen a dramatic improvement in our sales funnel with reduced leakage, which lays the foundations for re-acceleration of growth in the Australian market.<\/p>\n \u201cIn the UK, we\u2019ve been blown away by the results of our \u2018Airtasker. Yeahtasker!\u2019 campaign and partnership with Channel 4 which has already delivered a 49% pop in posted tasks as we enter the UK spring and summer period \u2013 our biggest quarter.\u201d<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n This article was developed in collaboration with Airtasker, a Stockhead advertiser at the time of publishing. <\/em><\/p>\n This article does not constitute financial product advice. You should consider obtaining independent advice before making any financial decisions.<\/em><\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n The post Airtasker delivers $2.5m free cash in Q3 FY24, \u2018well ahead of plan\u2019<\/a> appeared first on Stockhead<\/a>.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\nPositive group EBITDA of $600k is a $1.5 million improvement on pcp<\/strong>
\nGroup revenue hits $12.2 million, with Airtasker marketplace revenue increasing by 11.5% to $10.1 million on pcp<\/strong>
\nUK posted tasks increases 49% on pcp<\/strong><\/p>\nMedia partnership delivers 49% increase in UK posted tasks<\/strong><\/h2>\n
<\/h2>\n
Investing in new marketplaces <\/strong><\/h2>\n
\u2018Well-ahead of plan\u2019 to deliver positive free cash flow for FY24<\/strong><\/h2>\n