Travel specialist Serko says transactions nearing pre-Covid levels

Online travel booking specialist Serko is seeing business transactions approach pre-Covid levels. Photo / NZ Herald

Travel specialist Serko said its transactions this month are nearing 70 per cent of pre-Covid levels.

In its most recent result, NZX-listed Serko reported a $10 million first-half net loss versus an $866,000 net loss in the year-ago half.

Revenue was also hit as the pandemic closed borders, falling to $5.1m in the six months to September 30 from $14.7m in the year-ago period.

In a statement today chief executive Darrin Grafton said the company had seen business lift over March, with month-to-date transactions averaging 68 per cent of that recorded for the same period in March 2019.

Serko had assumed in its forecasts that travel volumes would be transacting in a range of 40-70 per cent of pre-Covid levels by this month.

"We are also seeing daily transaction volumes reaching their highest rate since Covid started materially impacting Serko's travel volumes in mid-March 2020, and are pleased to note that some of this uplift is reflective of continued onboarding of new customers in Australasia despite the effects of Covid," Grafton said.

"These positive trends follow ongoing volatility over the past few months as a result of further Covid-related travel restrictions, which saw transaction volumes range from 58 per cent of prior year volumes for the month of December 2020, 40 per cent for January 2021 and 51 per cent for February 2021."

Serko hoped to see these positive trends continue with the vaccination programmes under way in key markets and with travel restrictions progressively lifting.

Shares in the company last traded at $6.30, up 22 cents or 3.6 per cent since Friday's closing level.