Airtasker’s marketplace growth clears a higher cash-flow hurdle

Marketplace growth reaches a four-year high

Airtasker Limited (ASX:ART) finished FY26 with its strongest gross marketplace volume growth in four years, as GMV climbed 14.9% to $239.8 million. Airtasker marketplace revenue, excluding Oneflare, rose 15.5% to a record $52.0 million, while group revenue increased 9.9% to $57.8 million.

The growth came from more activity and larger jobs rather than higher fees. Booked tasks rose 7.4% to 897,568 and average task price increased 7% to $267. In Australia, GMV grew 10.9% to $211.6 million and revenue rose 11.3% to $46.3 million, with brand investment helping lift unprompted brand awareness by 20% during the year. The company’s Australian traction was also reflected in its record Australian GMV, reported in its first-quarter FY27 update.

International expansion remains the cash drain

The arithmetic is less flattering outside Australia. The UK and US generated combined revenue of $5.8 million, up 65.8%, but the New Marketplaces segment recorded an EBITDA loss of $46.1 million, compared with a $36.6 million loss a year earlier. International marketing investment rose to $43.0 million, including $17.3 million of cash spending and $25.7 million in non-cash media advertising services.

The UK delivered GMV growth of 47.3% to £11.0 million and revenue growth of 55.4% to £2.2 million, while US GMV rose 140.6% to US$4.3 million and revenue increased 149.8% to US$0.9 million. Airtasker says the UK has reached a scale at which it can move towards self-sufficiency, with FY27 cash investment set to fall relative to FY26. It expects to keep US growth disciplined and hold international marketing investment at roughly 65% of FY26 levels.

Profit improvement was largely non-cash

The headline earnings improvement needs careful handling. Airtasker reported a consolidated net loss of $7.0 million, down from $37.7 million, while the result attributable to Airtasker shareholders was a $1.2 million profit compared with a $31.6 million loss. The difference reflects losses attributed to non-controlling interests in the UK and US businesses.

The improvement was also heavily shaped by accounting items rather than cash earnings. Airtasker recognised an $18.5 million unrealised gain from remeasuring media-partner share purchase liabilities and a $16.2 million income-tax benefit. Group EBITDA remained negative at $18.1 million, despite improving from a $33.7 million loss in FY25.

Cash discipline becomes the FY27 test

Cash tells a more demanding story. Operating activities consumed $2.3 million, net cash outflow reached $6.2 million and cash and term deposits fell from $19.1 million to $12.4 million. Australia generated $16.5 million after covering global head-office costs, but that contribution was more than offset by the international expansion program and the $10.8 million cash settlement of earlier oOh!media and ARN notes, a transaction previously reported as a $10.8 million media note settlement.

Airtasker entered FY27 with $13.2 million of prepaid media assets, alongside $12.4 million in cash and term deposits. It subsequently added a further $11.0 million of Australian media inventory through convertible notes with oOh!media and Nova Entertainment, as detailed in the company’s new $11 million media deals. Those arrangements preserve cash marketing capacity, but also add future repayment or potential equity-conversion obligations.

Membership and Oneflare reset the platform

Airtasker’s newest recurring-revenue experiment passed 10,000 paid subscribers by 30 June, after launching in February. The company is targeting 50,000 members by the end of FY27 and has also launched Airtasker Pro Pass for professional tradespeople and active taskers. Membership revenue was only $84,000 in FY26, so the commercial significance remains a target rather than an established earnings stream.

The company also retired the Oneflare brand and technology platform, migrating its customer relationships, business users, search traffic, data and most personnel into Airtasker Australia. Oneflare contributed $5.8 million of revenue, down from $7.6 million, and Airtasker recognised an $850,000 impairment across goodwill and intangible assets associated with the migration.

CEO incentive resets the value hurdle

Shareholders approved a new five-year incentive arrangement for co-founder and CEO Tim Fung. The 10 million performance rights are tied to a three-year service cliff and a $1.00 90-day VWAP hurdle by June 2029; if that test is missed, remaining rights face a later $1.40 hurdle. No further long-term incentive grants will be made to Fung during the five-year period.

For FY27, the central question is whether Australia can continue funding the international build-out while the UK approaches self-sufficiency and the US remains in investment mode. Airtasker’s own plan is clear: double-digit Australian revenue growth, a membership base approaching 50,000 and positive free cash flow. The next quarterly figures will show whether that combination is beginning to translate from strategy into cash.