Serko improves its half-year loss to $7.2m to 30 September

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Serko has benefited from higher travel volumes in Australia and New Zealand.
Photo: 123rf

Travel and expense software firm Serko has improved its interim loss as it saw revenue growth driven by its Booking.com partnership and higher travel volumes in Australia and New Zealand.

Key numbers for the six months ended 30 September compared with a year ago:

Net loss $7.2m vs $19.7m
Revenue $36.3m vs $19.4m
Underlying loss $0.8m vs $16.9m

The company said it also benefited from higher revenue per booking and favourable foreign exchange rates, with better than expected business travel volumes in its home markets.

Chief executive Darrin Grafton said the company was hopeful it would be profitable in 2025.

“The first-half result reflects our focus on maximising growth from the travel recovery, materially growing revenue under the Booking.com for Business partnership and putting Serko on a clear path to profitability,” he said.

The owner of travel giant Booking.com, Booking Holdings, was a minority shareholder in Serko.

Grafton said Serko had also reduced its average monthly cash burn and the company was well capitalised, with $84.3 million in cash and no debt.

Serko said business travel demand was resilient and it expected revenue growth in the short to medium term.

It upgraded its full year revenue guidance from $63m to $70m, to $67m to $74m.

“Macroeconomic and geopolitical factors continue to be uncertain, which may impact future performance, including in the short term,” the company said.

Grafton said it was yet to see signs of companies cutting back on spending due to softer economic conditions.

In a note, Forsyth Barr associate analyst, Mark Robertson, said it was a strong result, though the outlook statement was “bearish”.

He said a full year guidance upgrade implied “flat to declining revenue” in the second half.