Serko delivers stronger than expected full-year revenue, shares spike

Serko chief executive and co-founder Darrin Grafton. Photo / Dean Purcell

By RNZ

Travel booking software firm Serko beat expectations with stronger-than-expected revenue.

Shares were up 26.5 per cent to $2.91 in mid-afternoon trading, recovering some of its recently lost ground after it fell from its 52-week high of $4.94.

Key numbers for the 12 months ended March 2023 compared with a year ago:

• Net loss $30.5m vs $36m, 15% down
• Revenue $48m vs $18.9m, 154% up
• Expenses $82.8m vs $55.1m, 50% up
• Dividend nil

Serko chief executive and co-founder Darrin Grafton said the company remained well-capitalised.

“Serko’s result demonstrates strong growth driven by earlier investment decisions and disciplined execution,” he said.

“We remain well capitalised with underlying average monthly cash burn reducing from $3.3 million to $2.7m.”

Revenue growth was primarily the result of contributions from its Booking.com for business segment, with other income of $1.5m, primarily from research and development grants, he said.

Online bookings rose 93 per cent to 4.1 million from 2.2 million.

Expenses also rose as Serko continued to scale up to take advantage of growth opportunities, though the timing of revenue growth from initiatives underway was uncertain, though it still aspired to deliver $100m in total income in FY25.

Grafton said full-year 2024 revenue was expected to be between $63m and $70m as business travel continued to recover, along with growth in customers using Booking.com for business.

Costs were expected to be between $86m and $90m.

The company did not expect to pay a dividend to shareholders in FY24.

With reporting by Herald staff.