Seera positive performance in Q2 2022 likely to accelerate turning profit, further recovery seen in H2: CEO

Seera Group Holding CEO Majed Al Nefaie 

Seera Group Holding needs more than 10 months to reach break-even after recovering from losses, CEO Majed Al Nefaie told Argaam in an interview. 

The positive performance in the second quarter may accelerate swinging to profitability compared with the previous forecasts, Al Nefaie said, expecting that the company will reach a very significant level of recovery over the next six months.  

Indicators confirm the continuity of strong performance of the travel sector even after vacation, which shows that the company is heading for profitability soon, Al Nefaie said. 

He added that the group is working in major sectors, such as hotels, travel, domestic tourism, Hajj and Umrah as well as car rental, noting that resuming travel helped Seera narrow the losses achieved in the past period. 

Elsewhere, the top executive said Almosafer business achieved higher-than-expected results for the group, as it was the biggest contributor to revenues due to the robust increase in individual travel, which led to a strong qualitative leap. Accordingly, the total revenues soared more than 100% to SAR 2.5 billion in Q2 2022, compared with SAR 1.2 billion a year earlier. 

Al Nefaie further added that Almosafer's revenues increased by more than 20% compared to the base year 2019, which shows the great enthusiasm of individuals, the business sector, as well as corporate and government sectors towards travel. 

Lumi car rental business continued the same performance during the past three years, achieving very excellent results in the second quarter. The Hajj and Umrah sector is also recovering well and in satisfactory manner, but less than hoped due to its gradual rise, while it is expected to achieve stronger results, said Al Nefaie. 

He expected that the second half will likely witness strong recovery, indicating that all sectors are in the process of correction and returning to normal levels. Indicators show that the travel sector continues its strong activity even after the vacation period. 

The group is one of the few entities that did not stop during the pandemic, as it seized the opportunity to conduct maintenance of internal work, software and logistics services. It also invested large sums in developing products during the pandemic, which reflected on the group’s current performance, according to the top official. 

Seera is open to investing in any sectors if they prove to be of outstanding performance, said the top official, adding that Investments in Britain have begun to recover.  

Al Nefaie also indicated that the group has an entire segment that is approved as an independent portfolio to search for any available investment opportunity, whether in the technology sector it focuses on or any other sectors.  

As for the listing of Lumi, Al Nefaie indicated that the group is still studying the move, expecting that there will be a supplementary announcement in this regard later.  

The top executive pointed out that entering into a joint venture with Klook Travel Technology to establish a digital platform is currently in the stage of integration and work has been going on for more than a year. He expects that the platform will be ready in the coming months.

Seera narrowed net loss after Zakat and tax to SAR 132 million in H1 2022, from a loss of SAR 229 million in the prior-year period, according to data available with Argaam.