Driven by “extremely strong consumer demand,” the Portland-based vacation rental company Vacasa said it set records for occupancy and revenue.
The company reported generating $1.9 billion in gross booking revenue from the roughly 37,000 vacation homes available for rent on the Vacasa platform.
That drove revenue to new heights for the company, though not high enough to offset expenses, and the company reported a net loss of $118 million in the fourth quarter and $153 million for the year.
Still, the company says its investments and growing portfolio, along with travelers’ apparent growing comfort living among COVID-19, set it up to become profitable next year.
“We made incredible progress in 2021, scaling our business and extending our position as North America’s leading vacation rental management platform,” Matt Roberts, Vacasa’s CEO said. “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.”
The earnings were the first look at the company’s financials since it went public in December.
The company said it focused on adding more sales staff as it continues to focus on growth moving forward, which caused its spending on operations, technology, sales and marketing all to grow.
The company reported $192 million in total revenue in the fourth quarter, nearly doubling year-over-year. Revenue grew 80 percent in 2021 compared to 2020.
Total nights sold of 1.1 million was up 55 percent, indicating the cost of each reservation — Vacasa calls them “itineraries” — was up in the fourth quarter as well.
Vacasa said it expects nightly revenue to dip slightly from high levels in 2021 but remain ahead of pre-pandemic levels in 2019.
The company said it began using an artificial intelligence-led program to determine the price of itineraries with an eye on encouraging more nights sold.
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