In its first financial report as a public company Vacasa said it had a record fourth quarter and full year results for 2021.
The vacation home management platform also raised its guidance for full year 2022 and said it expects to be profitable on an adjusted basis by 2023.
“We made incredible progress in 2021, scaling our business and extending our position as North America’s leading vacation rental management platform,” said CEO Matt Roberts in a written statement. “There is strong momentum across all aspects of our business and we remain focused on leveraging technology to streamline our operations and provide an exceptional experience to homeowners and guests.”
For the fourth quarter the company reported revenue of $192 million, up 76% compared to Q4 2020. The company reported a net loss of $118 million in the quarter, widening it from a loss of $45 million in Q4 2020.
For the year, the company had revenue of $889 million, up 81% year-over-year and exceeded company targets that were issued in July by $130 million. Gross bookings for the year were a record $1.9 billion.
The company, which went public via a SPAC merger in December, had a net loss for year of $155 million. That is compared to a net loss of $92 million in 2020. On an adjusted basis earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization was a loss of $29 million, an improvement from a loss of $35 million in 2020.
The company noted over the past year it has hired 200 new sales executives, which doubled the size of its sales force. It has 37,000 homes on its platform. For 2021 it had 5.2 million nights sold, an increase of 72% compared to 2020.
"Our team executed extremely well last year delivering full year 2021 Revenue and adjusted EBITDA ahead of the initial targets we provided in July 2021," said Jamie Cohen, chief financial officer, in a written statement. "Building on our success over the past year, we are raising our full year 2022 Revenue and adjusted EBITDA outlook and expect to achieve positive adjusted EBITDA next year."
The company expects first quarter revenue between $245 million and $255 million. It expects adjusted EBITDA of a loss between $25 million and $20 million.
For the full year the company expects revenue between $1.13 billion and $1.18 billion. It expects full year EBITDA of a loss between $21 million and $14 million.
Vacasa differentiates itself from others in the vacation rental market by not only marketing rental homes and connecting customers with properties, but by also managing rentals for owners. Vacasa provides maintenance, booking and marketing and guest services. It uses a proprietary technology to set the best price for a specific unit to ensure booking and, according to the company, to maximize profit for the homeowner.
The company is capitalizing on changes in consumer preference for vacation homes versus hotels in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic. In a letter to shareholders Roberts and Cohen noted that when the Omicron variant emerged in the fall bookings did not change and the company didn’t experience material volume of cancellations.
Shares of Vacasa were up more than 1% in after-hours trading. Shares closed the day up more than 5% at $6.63.
This story has been corrected to state that revenue for the year exceeding July targets.
