Airbnb had its best holiday season and first profitable year in 2022, according to an earnings release on Tuesday.
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The accommodation reservation platform generated sales of 8.4 billion (+ 40% over one year) in 2022 and generated a net profit of 1.9 billion.
In the fourth quarter, revenue grew 24% on a yearly basis, despite a difficult economic environment marked by inflation and massive social plans in the United States.
Most notably, net income almost quintupled to $319 million, well above market expectations. This is the “fourth most profitable quarter” in Airbnb’s history, the Californian company said.
Its stock gained more than 9% during electronic trading after the New York Stock Exchange closed.
The company’s CEO, Brian Chesky, was also optimistic about the current quarter, with users “booking more and more in advance.”
“Travellers are visiting cities again and traveling abroad. (That kind of travel) was Airbnb’s livelihood before the pandemic,” he said on a conference call.
The platform had 6.6 million units open for rent at the end of December, up 16% from a year ago.
An acceleration of the offer, which Brian Chesky put on the account of attracting individuals to generate additional income, “often essential in these difficult times”, but also improvements in service.
Airbnb rolled out a system in the fall that allows new hosts to get advice from experienced hosts who are paid by the company.
“The number of new active hosts recruited with the help of our Superhosts has increased by 20%,” asserts Brian Chesky.
The platform has also added the ability to verify travelers’ identities and increased AirCover insurance claims amounts.
In China, Airbnb expects a “rather gradual recovery”.
In spring 2022, the group had decided to suspend its rental housing offering in China due to repeated restrictions since early 2020, but the platform remained open to Chinese people looking to rent apartments abroad.
“We believe there will be hundreds of millions of people who (…) want to travel the world,” said Brian Chesky, specifically referring to the under-30s who “want to have really authentic experiences when they travel.”
In 2020, the pandemic and health restrictions forced Airbnb to lay off a quarter of its workforce and review its priorities.
“I was trying to create too many things at once,” Brian Chesky told AFP last November.