Freelancer Limited, which operates online staffing website Freelancer.com, reported cash receipts increased by 4% to approximately AUD 13.0 million (USD 9.2 million) in the third quarter ended 30 September 2018.

Gross Marketplace Volume continued to improve year on year reaching AUD 32 million (USD 22.8 million) for the quarter, an increase of 12%. According to Freelancer, project fees, were up 22% year on year in the third quarter.

The group added that in the last 28 days, project fees hit record all-time highs and are expected to continue to trend up for the rest of the year.

During the period, Freelancer.com also reached 30 million registered users.

The group said that it is now cycling the large drop in membership fees that has been the primary drag on revenue in recent periods, which was the result of a conscious decision to cancel paid memberships of customers that were not receiving value from the plans and promoting a lower end plan by default.

“In making this decision we removed over USD 500,000 a month in revenue from peak to today from the membership revenue line, however the new plans have much better retention and we believe will bring more revenue and customer satisfaction in the long run. This drop has bottomed and membership fees are rising again. Additionally, the number of users by count on active, paid membership plans continues to hit all time highs,” the group said.

The company also reported that cash receipts from Escrow.com for the third quarter were up 15.4% and Gross Payment Volume was USD 106.2 million which was an increase of 18.4%, compared to the same period last year. Escrow is a service that facilitates online transactions and revenue is expected to continue to climb as integrations continue.

Overall, the group said Gross Payment Volume for the year to date (first three quarters) hit an all time record of USD 322 million (up 30%).

Freelancer.com said it was operating EBITDA positive for the quarter, Escrow.com was EBITDA positive for the quarter, and the group was EBITDA positive for one month in the quarter. In the quarter, cash flow and EBITDA was impacted by one-off regulatory and legal cash flows and costs.

In trading today Freelancer Ltd shares closed at AUD 0.575 (USD 0.41), up 6.48% on the day and 13.53% below its 52-week high of AUD 0.665 (USD 0.47), set on 25 October 2017. Based on its current share price the company has a market value of AUD 247.23 million (USD 176.2 million).