Serko books a maiden profit

Serko, the online travel booking software developer, reported a maiden annual profit ahead of an expansion into the Northern Hemisphere and a planned ASX listing next month.

In the year ended March 31, operating revenue, which excludes grants, rose 28 per cent from the previous year to $18.3 million, for a net profit of $1.m compared with a loss of $3.5m in 2017.

The company has been flagging an annual profit for the 2018 year since it posted a $6.2m loss in 2016, and boosted investor confidence in November 2017 when it reported a first-half net profit of $1.1m on a 30 per cent gain in operating revenue and affirming annual guidance for sales to be between $18m and $19m.

The company is forecasting revenue growth between 15 per cent and 30 per cent in the next year, but no earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation growth from 2018’s $2.2m, due to the cost of its expansion in Europe and North America.

Earlier this year, the company signed a binding strategic alliance with ATPI Group to deploy its Zeno platform globally, including in the US, Europe, UK, and Asia for the next five years. The first customer site, being the UK, is scheduled to start this quarter.

Serko, which listed on the NZX in 2014, announced earlier this month it would join the Australian Securities Exchange via a compliance listing while keeping its primary listing on the NZX. It’s targeting a listing date of June 25, it said.

The stock was the best performer on the NZX last year, soaring 655 per cent, and the shares have continued upwards so far in 2018, up 37 per cent. In early trading today the shares gained 1.3 per cent to $3.04.