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Highlights
- Serko announced its financial results for the half year to 30 September 2021 on Wednesday.
- The Company also declared that it was raising up to $85 million to capture further growth prospects in different markets and alter into the global marketplace.
- Serko expects revenue and other income of between $21 million and $25 million for the full year.
Leading online travel and expense management services provider, Serko, declared its financial results for the half year ended 30 September 2021, and also launched a capital raising of $85 million.
The Group delivered an operating revenue of $9.2 million, up 81% on 1H21, which was in a sharp distinction to the same period a year before. However, the gains were toughened by the COVID-19 impact on other markets and strict lockdowns in the second quarter in NZ and Australia.
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Total travel bookings on the Company’s platform increased 157% to 1.3 million from 0.5 million in the same period a year before. Serko also completed Booking.com for business migration in the period with more than 300K business customers using the Zeno-powered platform.
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The proportion of travel platform versus expense management revenue changed in contrast to FY21 due to increased travel in the 6-month period. Subsequently, this led to a lower average revenue per booking (ARPB) for the managed business of $7.38 compared to $8.76 in FY21.
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Booking.com for business platform-related ARPB in September stood below $20 but has risen to more than $20 in October.
The Group’s cash and short-term deposits stood at $62.3 million at the end of the half year, down on $79.9 million as of 31 March 2021. The cash burn averaged $2.9 million per month in the 6-month period, within the $2 million to $4 million guidance range.
Capital raising
Serko also announced that it was raising up to $85 million in capital for the implementation of its growth strategy globally. It plans to raise $75 million from Placement and $10 million from a retail offer by issuing ordinary shares.
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SKO will use funds from the capital raising to persist in investing in growth in the unmanaged travel segment through its Booking.com for the business partnership and fast-track development of global marketplace strategy and the inorganic speeding up of global expansion prospects.
On 24 November, at the time of writing, SKO was trading flat at $7.85.
Outlook
Serko targets to achieve a revenue of $100 million in the mid-term. However, the COVID-19 pandemic has postponed the attainment of this revenue. The Group is expecting revenue and other income between $21 million and $25 million for the full year.
(NOTE: Currency is reported in NZ Dollar unless stated otherwise)