Business / Tourism

Serko cuts losses, boosts revenue

10:22 am on 28 May 2024

Photo: 123RF

Travel booking software company Serko has nearly halved its loss, while revenue rose 48 percent as online bookings and room nights continued to grow.

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

  • Net loss $15.9m vs $30.5m loss
  • Revenue $71.2m vs $48m
  • Cash burn $0.6m vs $2.7m
  • No dividend

Serko said the growth in its 2024 financial year was driven by a strong first half, with online bookings up 19 percent.

The company reduced its average underlying monthly cash burn by 78 percent, while operating expenses rose 8 percent.

Serko chair Claudia Batten said the "strong results" reflected the company's progress.

"We are seeing benefits from strengthened leadership and expertise, a scalable operating model, and targeted investment to support innovation and growth."

The company recently announced it had renewed its partnership with US travel giant Booking.com's business platform for another five years.

Completed room nights on Booking.com's business platform increased 65 percent in the year ended March.

Batten said the partnership provided "a strong foundation for future global scale".

"We are executing plans with Booking.com to deliver further growth through customer acquisition and activation, and expansion of the product offering."

Serko expected demand for business travel in its key markets to remain strong and forecast total revenue to be in the range of $85 million and $92m in 2025.

As previously announced, the company expected to be cashflow-positive for 2025, meaning more cash would be coming in than going out of the business.