Serko signs five-year partnership renewal with Booking.com
Serko Limited, Saatchi Building, Unit 14D 125 The Strand, Parnell, Auckland, New Zealand
PO Box 47-638, Ponsonby, T: +64 9 884 5916, F: +64 9 377 0545, investor.relations@serko.com
Incorporated in New Zealand ARBN 611 613 980
Market Release
30 April 2024
Serko signs five-year partnership renewal with Booking.com
• Significant milestone for Serko’s growth ambitions
• Five-year term from April 2024 to March 2029
• Serko provides unaudited FY24 trading update ahead of audited full-year results
Serko Limited (NZX & ASX: SKO) today announces it has signed a five-year contract with Booking.com
to continue their successful partnership.
Both Booking.com and Serko remain committed to scaling Booking.com for Business, providing an
easy-to-use business travel platform for businesses and business travellers globally.
Serko Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder, Darrin Grafton, said: “This renewal is a significant
milestone for Serko – providing a strong foundation for future global growth and scale. It reflects the
successful execution of the partnership to date and the strength of the opportunities ahead. The
progress made has directly driven material revenue growth for Serko under the partnership’s revenue
sharing model.
“Together we have completed a substantial migration of existing users, seen registered companies
exceed 600,000 and completed room nights increase 65% in the past financial year. We are excited
about continuing to scale this solution with Booking for Business for the benefit of businesses and
business travellers globally.”
Booking.com Director of Business Travel, Joshua Wood, said: “Booking.com for Business reflects the
quality of innovation and focus of the teams at Serko and Booking.com over many years. We are
delighted that our partnership with Serko has renewed and are looking forward to the opportunities
ahead.”
Under the revised revenue share arrangement, the revenue share will continue at the same ratio for
current volumes with a new tiered system for higher incremental volumes. The introduction of this
model allows for significant volume growth at the current commission levels, providing a solid base
for profitability. This also allows future volume growth on commercial terms that mutually incentivise
and benefit both parties.
With the exception of the revised revenue share, the commercial terms are largely unchanged. Further
information regarding the contract renewal terms is included in the Appendix to this release.
Unaudited FY24 total income above mid-point of revised guidance
Serko is providing a trading update for unaudited FY24 total income and select supporting metrics in
advance of audited results, given the material nature of the Booking.com partnership announcement.
All FY24 results provided are subject to potential adjustments as Serko completes its year end and
audit processes and audited financial results will be provided at Serko’s FY24 results on 28 May 2024.
In particular, for the twelve months to 31 March 2024:
• Total income was approximately $71 million, including approximately $2 million of Other
Income. Total income is estimated to be up 48% on FY23 and above the middle of the revised
guidance range provided at half year results in November (revised from $63m-$70m to $67m-
$74m).
• Completed room nights on Booking.com for Business were 2.5 million, up 65% on the prior
year.
• Average Revenue per Completed Room Night was €9.74, up 4% on the prior year.
Serko Limited, Saatchi Building, Unit 14D 125 The Strand, Parnell, Auckland, New Zealand
PO Box 47-638, Ponsonby, T: +64 9 884 5916, F: +64 9 377 0545, investor.relations@serko.com
Incorporated in New Zealand ARBN 611 613 980
Second half revenue was lower than expected mainly driven by slower growth in CRNs than projected,
unanticipated seasonality in ARPCRN and a decline in the Euro:NZD exchange rate since guidance
was updated in November 2023.
In November 2023, Serko indicated that total spend was tracking to the lower end of the range of
guidance of $86 million to $90 million. Serko confirms that the unaudited draft total spend is
consistent with its statement in November.
Mr Grafton said: “This is a strong overall result for Serko, delivering total income above the mid-point
of upwards revised guidance in challenging macro-economic conditions. We enter FY25 in a solid
position, with positive trading conditions, a renewed partnership with Booking.com and our team
focused on executing for the opportunities ahead.”
ENDS
Released for and on behalf of Serko Limited by Darrin Grafton, Chief Executive Officer.
FURTHER INFORMATION
Investor relations
Shane Sampson
Chief Financial Officer
+64 9 884 5916
investor.relations@serko.com
Media relations
Coran Lill
+61 (0)468 963 068
coran.lill@csladvisory.co.nz
Nick Whitehead
Chief Marketing Officer
+64 9 309 4754
nick.whitehead@serko.com
Definitions
Non-GAAP (generally accepted accounting practices) financial measures do not have standardised meanings
prescribed by GAAP and therefore may not be comparable to similar financial information presented by other
entities. Non-GAAP measures are used by management to monitor the business and are considered useful to
provide information to investors to assess business performance.
ARPCRN or Average Revenue per Completed Room Night is a non-GAAP measure comprising the gross
unmanaged supplier commissions revenue per completed room night.
CRN or Completed Room Nights is a non-GAAP measure comprising the number of revenue generating
unmanaged hotel room nights which have been booked and the traveller has completed the stay at the hotel.
Serko Limited, Saatchi Building, Unit 14D 125 The Strand, Parnell, Auckland, New Zealand
PO Box 47-638, Ponsonby, T: +64 9 884 5916, F: +64 9 377 0545, investor.relations@serko.com
Incorporated in New Zealand ARBN 611 613 980
APPENDIX – FURTHER INFORMATION ON KEY TERMS
Key terms of the partnership with Booking.com B.V. include:
• a five year renewal term from 1 April 2024
• a revised revenue share model with volume tiers
• a notice period of 12 months for mutual termination for convenience
• continued non-exclusive arrangement
Revised revenue share model with volume tiers
Based on the current ratio of CRNs to completed bookings we do not anticipate a meaningful impact
on the current commission rate of 50% below 4.3 million CRNs per year. The blended commission rate
would be approximately 40% at 6 million CRNs per year and approximately 32% at 8.6 million CRNs
per year. At the lowest commission tier the commission rate would still be expected to produce an
acceptable gross margin on incremental CRNs.
Continued non-exclusive arrangement
Serko is currently the sole platform provider for Booking.com for Business. The contract is a non-
exclusive arrangement which allows for Booking.com to redirect traffic to other third-party technology
platforms during the term of the Agreement, subject to agreed conditions.
Investor rights
Preferential investor rights granted to Booking Holdings Inc. as disclosed on 24 October 2019 have
also been extended.
Data sourced from publicly available filings. Our datasets may not be complete. Automated analysis can produce errors. If you believe any data on this page is incorrect, please contact us at hello@nzxplorer.co.nz. For informational purposes only. Not investment advice.