Seera reports net profit of SAR 766 mln in 9M 2020

Seera Group Holding reported a net profit after Zakat and tax of SAR 766 million for the first nine months of 2020, a steep rise compared to SAR 175.5 million in the same period a year

The company attributed the profit increase to the gains on disposal of Careem stake, amounting SAR 1.573 billion.

On the other hand, the group incurred impairment losses of SAR 315 million, and recognized foreign currency loss on impairment of goodwill of SAR 13 million.

It also incurred a normalized net loss of SAR 479 million during the period with a decrease of more than fourfold compared to 9M 2019.

The group’s gross booking value (GBV) decreased by 65% year-on-year (YoY) in 9M 2020 to SAR 2.98 billion due to the outbreak of COVID-19, which affected the global economy, as well as travel and tourism sector.

Consumer travel recorded SAR 920 million in GBV for 9M 2020, whereas travel management posted SAR 860 million, a 65% drop over the same period.

Car rental posted an increase YoY of 73% in revenue to SAR 324 million.

Hospitality yielded revenue of SAR 49 million, representing a 59% drop from the previous year due to closure of commercial operation as a result of COVID-19.

In Q3 2020, the travel group turned to a net loss after Zakat and tax of SAR 177 million against a net profit of SAR 63 million in Q3 2019. The group reported lower gross booking value by 81% as well as lower consumer travel by 87%.

However, car rentals reported higher revenue by 34% in Q3 2020.

Group revenue declined by 78% in Q3 2020, driven by drop in GBV due to COVID-19.

When compared to the previous quarter, Seera widened its net loss by 4.6%.