Seera’s net profit drops 91% to SAR 18 mln in 2020

Seera Group Holding’s net profit after Zakat and tax slumped 91% to SAR 18 million in 2020, from SAR 186 million in 2019, driven mainly by the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on the travel industry.

The group revenue declined by 59% year-on-year (YoY) driven by drop in gross booking value (GBV) due to COVID-19, the firm said in a statement to Tadawul.

The company also noted a profit recognized on disposal of Careem stake, amounting to SAR 1.573 billion, netted off with one off exceptional items.

It also incurred a normalized net loss of SAR 594 million in 2020, compared to net profit of SAR 180 million in 2019.

The firm’s impairment losses amounted to SAR 956 million, and recognized foreign currency loss on impairment of goodwill amounting to SAR 13 million in 2020.

The group’s GBV decreased 64% YoY to SAR 3.9 billion in 2020, due to the precautionary measures implemented to check the spread of coronavirus that directly affected the travel and tourism sector across all verticals, the firm said in a statement to Tadawul.

Seera’s car rental unit Lumi’s GBV grew 27% YoY to SAR 435 million in 2020, due to the cost-effective sale of its excess fleet and through wins of large-scale lease contracts with corporate and government sectors, resulting in the delivery of more than 3,000 new vehicles in 2020.

The group’s Almosafer and tajawal brands saw their GBV drop 69% YoY to SAR 1.2 billion.

The elaa travel management brand’s GBV fell nearly 50% YoY to SAR 1.45 billion in 2020.

Mawasim, the firm’s Hajj & Umrah business, posted SAR 14 million revenue in 2020 versus SAR 170 million in 2019.

Discover Saudi, Seera’s integrated destination management company (DMC), recorded a GBV of SAR 24 million in 2020.

Seera’s hospitality unit yielded revenue of SAR 54 million, down 64% YoY due to the closure of commercial operation as a result of COVID-19.

The firm posted a net loss after Zakat and tax of SAR 748.3 million in Q4 2020, compared to a profit of SAR 10.49 million in Q4 2019.