Budget Saudi’s market share to grow beyond 25%: CEO

United International Transportation Company Ltd.’s (Budget Saudi) market share exceeded 25 percent in the Kingdom, especially following the launch of the affordable car rental service Payless, chief executive Fawaz Abdullah Ahmed Danish told Argaam.

The market share is expected to grow further over the coming year as a result of the decision to nationalization car rental offices, he added.

The CEO attributed the slight decline in firm’s Q2 results to a decrease in the number of cars, adding that compared to the previous quarter, the earnings improved especially for the short-term rentals and used cars sales.

According to data compiled by Argaam, Budget Saudi’s profit fell to SAR 40.8 million in Q2 versus SAR 42.8 million the year-earlier period.

“We’ve started to feel the improved value and profitability of used cars in Q2 from a year earlier (period); therefore, we see used cars demand is growing, which will enhance the prices by year-end,” Danish said about expected performance of the car rental/sales market.

As for Budget Saudi’s exit from India’s subsidiary Tranzlease, he said that the firm has not set a date for an exit yet.

The company has reduced the value of investment in the Indian business to avoid any financial impact on current or future results, he added. 

Budget Saudi subsidiary Rahal Ltd.’s performance was positive and continuously growing, Danish said.

Another subsidiary Unitrans InfoTech, which is a small company, has had no significant impact on Budget Saudi’s results, he added.