The apartment broker Airbnb did better in the Corona year 2020 than initially assumed. Overall, revenues fell by 30 percent to 3.4 billion dollars, as Airbnb announced on Thursday after the US market closed.
After the severe slump at the beginning of the pandemic, business recovered significantly; in the final quarter there was only a drop in sales of 22 percent to $ 859 million compared to the previous year. Nevertheless, the crisis tore deep holes in the balance sheet – Airbnb made a total of $ 4.6 billion in loss in 2020.
High costs from going public
The enormous minus was not only due to the burdens of the pandemic, which brought business to a standstill in the spring and led to massive cancellations. Airbnb also faced heavy costs associated with its December IPO.
Analysts had expected worse results, the share initially recorded price gains after the hours. The numbers showed that Airbnb was resilient and adaptable, said CEO Brian Chesky. At the height of the crisis, the company had warned of a drop in revenues of more than 50 percent for 2020.
