Airbnb had substantially more than $1 billion in quarterly revenue

Home-renting company Airbnb said on Friday it had "substantially more" than $1 billion in revenue for the third quarter, marking its strongest quarter yet ahead of a widely anticipated initial public offering next year.

The quarter was the first time it "substantially" exceeded $1 billion in revenue, with growth in key overseas markets like Beijing and Mexico City, as well as smaller towns it has recently targeted to expand beyond cities where it has been blamed for constraining housing stock, Airbnb said in a statement.

Reuters previously reported that Airbnb`s revenue for all of 2017 topped $2.5 billion, $1 billion of which occurred in the fourth quarter.

The company is eyeing an IPO next year after announcing in February it would not make a public debut this year, despite investor expectations to the contrary. However, Airbnb remains without a chief financial officer after the departure of Laurence Tosi in February, a critical position to fill before going public.

Airbnb in recent months has turned to new services and offerings to fuel growth, adding luxury vacation homes and hotels to its platform that began in 2009 as a web-based service to find apartments and houses to rent. The company has also built up a tours and activities business for travelers in a bid for new sources of revenue.

Valued by private investors at $31 billion, the company achieved its first full year of profitability in 2017 and is on track to be profitable this year.

(This article has not been edited by Zeebiz editorial team and is auto-generated from an agency feed.)