Freelancer Ltd., the operator of online staffing provider Freelancer.com, reported revenue fell 4.7% in full-year 2017 to AUS$50.3 million (US$39.2 million). The company posted a loss for the period of AUS$4.7 million (US$3.7 million).

Gross payment volume for the full year fell 11.8% year over year to AUS$587.5 million (US$460.7 million). GPV is calculated as the total payments to Freelancer and Escrow users for products and services transacted through the Freelancer and Escrow websites plus total Freelancer and Escrow revenue. Freelancer in 2015 acquired Escrow.com, a provider of secure online payments in the US.

A number of factors — including a drop in the core desktop funnel — affected net revenue and GPV in 2017, according to the company. And Escrow.com was also a “major drag” on GPV for the group, falling 15% year over year to $428 million in full-year 2017. Freelancer attributed the decline to a drop in China volume for domain purchases, as well as volume churning after introducing a more rigorous anti-money laundering and "Know Your Customer" program. This was implemented after its acquisition of the business.

Freelancer gained 4.4 million users in 2017 for a total of almost 28 million.

Shares in Freelancer closed up 6.8%% at AUS 40 cents (US 31 cents). The company had a market cap of $185.42 million.