Daily Brief Australia: EML Payments Limited, Freelancer Ltd and more

EML Payments announced that on 23 April the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) in the UK lifted the new customer restriction for Prepaid Financial Services Limited (PFSL), which had been in place since October 2022. With the appropriate structure and risk management controls now in place, PFSL can focus on growing the business. This marks another positive step forward for the group, after exiting PFS Card Services Ireland Limited (PFS), agreeing to sell Sentenial and finalising the settlement liabilities for the PFS acquisition.

Freelancer’s Q124 results were mixed. Operationally, the company is seeing rising demand for AI specialists as customers seek affordable ways to develop proprietary AI. Notably, in Enterprise, the company delivered a large-scale AI pilot for a tech giant, sourcing 20,000 freelancers in 24 hours across 52 languages. This impressive achievement could lead to a substantial multi-year contract. Major initiatives across Loadshift and Escrow with leading organisations are set to be deployed over the coming months, potentially catalysing performance and diversifying revenue streams. We revise our forecasts to account for a weaker Q1 than anticipated, though positive lead indicators, especially relating to AI, underscore long-term optimism.