Freelancer (ASX:FLN) reported a return to profitability in its full-year 2025 results, highlighting record net profit after tax, improving operating cash flow, and stronger contributions from its Escrow.com and Loadshift businesses. Management also emphasized product initiatives centered on AI, trust and safety, and payments infrastructure, while noting a leadership transition with Chief Financial Officer Neil Katz announcing his retirement.
FY25 financial performance and cash flow
Group gross marketplace volume (GMV), described as “cash to the business,” was AUD 881.5 million, down 7.1% from FY24. The performance diverged by segment: Freelancer GMV increased 2.3% to AUD 133.4 million, while Escrow.com GMV declined 8.6% to AUD 748.1 million.
The company reported an all-time record NPAT of AUD 2.2 million, compared with a small loss in the prior year. Operating profit excluding unrealized FX was also described as a record, reaching AUD 2.0 million, up 162%. Operating cash flow was AUD 7.7 million, up 32% year over year. Total cash flow was AUD 0.5 million versus AUD 0.8 million in the prior comparable period, and included AUD 1.5 million in buybacks of Loadshift shares, lifting Freelancer’s ownership to 73.4%.
Cash and cash equivalents were AUD 22.9 million, down 11.9% on the half year but described as flat on the full year. Management noted outflows of AUD 6.9 million, primarily related to office lease payments, and said lease costs were trending down with renewals and office changes, including a planned move into a new Manila office and a future Sydney office move in 2027.
Marketplace trends: larger projects, high liquidity, and growing AI work
Management said the core marketplace added 7.32 million new users in FY25 and 666,000 new projects. Average project size continued to rise, averaging $413, up 19.4%. The company described marketplace liquidity as “very strong,” noting that projects receive an average of 54 bids (up 8%) and that contests averaged 761 entries per contest (up 50%).
On acquisition trends, the company saw “a slight decline” in year-on-year performance in the fourth quarter due to a decrease in the SEO channel, which management said had been rectified with a bounce back in Q1. SEM volume was described as “at record levels” with a “relatively stable” ROI.
Management also pointed to an early but meaningful lift in AI-related jobs, saying AI work is now about 5% of total marketplace volume. The company framed AI as a new phase in digital transformation following earlier waves of web and mobile development, arguing that “humans with AI” improves speed and quality for freelancers and supports scalability for the platform.
Product roadmap: calling, automated review, bid quality, and prototyping
In early January, the company launched client-initiated audio and video calling before awarding a job, supported by real-time analysis intended to help prevent off-platform activity. Management said the feature improves client-freelancer interaction and has also contributed to increased membership revenue on the freelancer side.
The company said it has “pretty much almost fully” automated project review on Freelancer and Loadshift using AI and its data science pipeline “Iris,” replacing a human review process and improving conversion by getting projects live faster.
Looking forward, management said the immediate focus is introducing AI into the primary job posting funnel, with particular attention on the bidding process to improve matching and counter “bid spam.” The company discussed initiatives to better surface high-quality bids and penalize misrepresentation, noting that AI-generated content and auto-bidding tools can widen the “uncanny valley” where clients struggle to determine which freelancers are credible. Management said multiple measures were expected to go live within about two weeks, including bid annotation and improved filtering and search functionality.
The company also announced a Q1 launch of Prototyper, an AI-powered collaborative whiteboard intended to help clients and freelancers prototype ideas and generate code through a “Make It Real” feature. Management said the tool connects to major foundational models such as OpenAI and Claude.
Escrow.com: record revenue, licensing advantages, and partnership pipeline
Escrow.com reported fourth-quarter GPV of AUD 195.8 million, up 3.8% year over year (though “slightly down” in U.S. dollars). Full-year 2025 GPV was stated as AUD 760.4 million, down 8.2%, which management attributed primarily to lapping a large IPv4 transaction in 2024. Management said Q1 volumes were “up a bit” from the FY25 run rate, describing a positive start to 2026.
Escrow.com recorded its fifth consecutive year of profitability and is now paying tax, having used deferred tax assets. Management emphasized Escrow.com’s payments licensing in 55 jurisdictions as strategic and said the partnership pipeline is “the best it’s ever been,” spanning high-value transactions and new verticals. The company discussed initiatives to build a go-to-market team and cited Afterpay’s merchant acquisition and activation model as inspiration for expanding Escrow.com’s checkout product.
Management cited partnerships including Dynadot and Conexly for domains and IPv4, and referenced activity across B2B electronics and broker marketplaces, luxury goods, agricultural transactions, and early moves into automotive and real estate. In domains, management said .ai domain volumes tripled during FY25, and cited an increase of about 189% to approximately AUD 27 million. The company also completed its first straight-through financing transaction through its Funding.com subsidiary with a third-party financier, noting it has done AUD 670 million in vendor financing through Escrow.com to date in the domain space.
Operationally, Escrow.com moved to 24/7 customer support and began migrating its front-end technology to the Freelancer technology stack, which management said would enable modern features (including real-time chat and potential audio/video calling), AI agent capabilities, and tighter integration across Freelancer, Escrow.com, and Loadshift. The company also outlined plans for unified identity and payments infrastructure so users can complete KYC once across platforms.
Loadshift: first full-year profit and plans to expand to Canada
Loadshift delivered a “maiden full year profit” and record operational and financial performance in FY25. Management said revenue increased 12.4% year over year and GMV rose 7.7%. The company also reported consecutive record quarterly revenues in Q3 and Q4, with Q4 revenue up 15% year over year.
Management characterized 2026 as potentially a “breakout year,” driven in part by new audio and video calling capabilities and upcoming functionality to connect calls to the public phone network (PSTN). The company said Loadshift award rates were around 27% to 31% and argued they could ultimately be significantly higher, citing the tangible nature of freight postings versus some lower-intent job postings on freelancing platforms. Management said the next country expansion target for Loadshift would be Canada, describing it as similar to the Australian heavy-haul freight market and noting the company already has a Canadian office.
Loadshift’s roadmap also includes enhanced GPS tracking, compliance and notification features, cargo condition tracking, and enterprise-facing capabilities. Management said it is seeing interest from large enterprise clients, including mining companies, and referenced proposals for multi-million-dollar integrations.
In management updates, the company said it strengthened leadership with several appointments and promotions, and announced that CFO Neil Katz will retire after a six-month notice period, remaining in the role until August 2026. Management said a CFO search is underway, with market updates to follow.
About Freelancer (ASX:FLN)
Freelancer Limited operates a freelancing and crowdsourcing marketplace in Australia. The company operates in two segments, Online Marketplace and Online Payment Services. Its marketplace allows employers to hire freelancers in the field of software development, writing, data entry and design, engineering, sciences, sales and marketing, and accounting and legal services. The company connects employers and freelancers from approximately 247 countries, regions, and territories. It also provides escrow payment services; global fleet/field services; and subscription-based freight classified services under the Loadshift brand.
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