RECORD YEAR FOR FREELANCER

FREELANCER has boasted of its low marketing spend and profitability as it announced a record year of cash receipts today.

For the full financial and calendar year in 2016, the Sydney-based company (ASX:FLN) booked cash receipts of $51.9 million, up 35 per cent year on year and revenue will be higher than cash receipts due to accrual accounting.

CEO, Matt Barrie (pictured), says 2016 was a record year of cash receipts, and the company's best since its IPO in USD constant currency.

"Our highly cash generative business model yielded for the year record receipts from customers, positive operating cashflow and the company has a strong and growing balance sheet," says Barrie.

"This was achieved against the background of significant volatility in the Australian Dollar."

On the ASX, Freelancer is trading up 2.42 per cent on the previous day's close in early trading at $1.060 per share.

Marketing costs dropped as a percentage of cash receipts in the fourth quarter by 16 per cent from 20-22 per cent in the prior quarters during 2016 and the company expects this to continue operating from this lower base in 2017.

"It should be noted that this is a remarkably low percentage for a software business, where in Silicon Valley this number can often range from 50-100 per cent of cash receipts," says this morning's statement.

Operating cash flow was $4.5 million. The company was profitable at an unaudited operating EBITDA line for every month of the fourth quarter in 2016.

The company held $35 million in cash on 31 December 2016, up 8 per cent year on year.

Around 626,000 jobs were posted on Freelancer in the quarter, up 40 per cent on the previous year, and 78 per cent of projects received a bid within 60 seconds.

The company has also increased its presence in Latin America through the acquisition Nubelo and Prolancer in the fourth quarter, placing it in the dominant market position in the region.

Business News Australia