Saudi Budget boss sees recovery in car hire market helped by pilgrims in second half of year

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Hajj pilgrims, Budget CEO Fawaz Danish, told Asharq Business.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\n\tThe resumption of international flights to the Kingdom is expected to boost demand, he said.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\n\tCar hire companies have been among the hardest hit by the pandemic with global travel coming to a near standstill. US-based Hertz became one of the first casualties in the sector after seeking bankruptcy protection in the early days of the pandemic.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\n\tStill, the influx of millions of pilgrims to the Kingdom offers great potential for the hire sector, Danish said.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\n\tThe United International Transportation Company, trading as Budget Saudi Arabia, posted profits of SR187 million ($49.8 million) last year, which Danish said was a good performance considering prevailing market conditions.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\n\tBudget Co. has distributed SR310 million of its profits to shareholders.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\n\tDanish added that the planned listing of Theeb Rent a Car on the Tadawul stock exchange would be a further boost for the sector.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","articleSection":null,"image":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https:\/\/www.arabnews.com\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/n_670_395\/public\/main-image\/2021\/03\/15\/2522891-1365224324.jpg?itok=XRrtUN_o","width":"600","height":"400"},"commentCount":"0","datePublished":"2021-03-15 10:40:21","dateModified":"2021-03-15 11:25:57","author":{"@type":"Person","name":"Arab News"},"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Arabnews","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https:\/\/www.arabnews.com\/sites\/all\/themes\/arabnews\/assets\/img\/logo?123.png","width":"270","height":"80"}}}</script> <script> window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; 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(Supplied)" alt="Saudi Budget boss sees recovery in car hire market helped by pilgrims in second half of year" data-lazy="https://www.arabnews.com/sites/default/files/styles/n_670_395/public/2021/03/15/2522886-651927369.jpg?itok=6GUtBMcn"/> </div> <div class="slider-item-caption">Budget Saudi Arabia expects to see a pickup in rentals in the second half. (Supplied)</div> </div> </div> <div class="short-url-wrapper"> <div class="short-url grid-x grid-padding-x gutters-1x align-middle center"> <div class="cell shrink"><span>Short Url</span></div> <div class="cell shrink"><p class="short-url-link">https://arab.news/p3z44</p></div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="grid-x entry-article-inner align-center" data-nid="1825756"> <div class="cell large-shrink"> <div class="entry-aside-info stick-aside-info show-for-large" > <div class="updated-ago"> Updated 15 March 2021 </div> <div class="entry-author"> <div>Arab News</div> </div> <div class="entry-date"> <time>March 15, 2021<span> 10:40</span></time> </div> <div class="entry-views"><span class="views-count-placeholder nid-1825756"><i class="icomoon-icon icon-views"></i><span></span></span> </div> <div class="entry-aside-shares"> <div class="addthis_toolbox" addthis:title="Saudi Budget boss sees recovery in car hire market helped by pilgrims in second half of year" addthis:url="https://www.arabnews.com/node/1825756" data-a2a-url="https://www.arabnews.com/node/1825756" data-a2a-title="Saudi Budget boss sees recovery in car hire market helped by pilgrims in second half of year" > <div class="a2a_kit "> <div class="entry-share-row"> <a class="a2a_button_facebook facebook-btn-hover"> <i class="icomoon-icon icon-facebook"></i> </a> </div> <div class="entry-share-row"> <a class="a2a_button_twitter twitter-btn-hover"> <i class="icomoon-icon icon-twitter"></i> </a> </div> <div class="entry-share-row"> <a class="a2a_button_linkedin linkedin-btn-hover"> <i class="icomoon-icon icon-linkedin"></i> </a> </div> <div class="entry-share-row"> <a class="a2a_button_whatsapp whatsapp-btn-hover"> <i class="icomoon-icon icon-whatsapp"></i> </a> </div> </div> <div class="padding-top-1"> <div class="entry-share-row"> <a class="a2a_button_email"> <i class="icomoon-icon icon-envelope"></i> </a> </div> <div class="entry-share-row"> <a href="#" class="print-btn"><i class="icomoon-icon icon-printer"></i></a> </div> </div> </div> <a style="background-color: #000; border-radius: 20px; padding: 2px 10px; font-size: 14px; color: #fff; font-family: isento-medium;" href="https://twitter.com/intent/follow?original_referer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.arabnews.com%2F&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Ebuttonembed%7Ctwterm%5Efollow%7Ctwgr%5Earabnews&region=follow_link&screen_name=arabnews"> <i class="icomoon-icon icon-twitter" style="font-size:14px;"></i> Follow </a> </div> </div> </div> <div class="cell large-auto"> <div class="printable-area shareable"> <div class="title-area show-for-printable-area"> <h2>Saudi Budget boss sees recovery in car hire market helped by pilgrims in second half of year</h2> </div> <div class="img-area show-for-printable-area"> <img src="https://www.arabnews.com/sites/default/files/styles/n_670_395/public/main-image/2021/03/15/2522891-1365224324.jpg?itok=XRrtUN_o" alt="Saudi Budget boss sees recovery in car hire market helped by pilgrims in second half of year" title="Saudi Budget boss sees recovery in car hire market helped by pilgrims in second half of year" /> </div> <div class="entry-highlight"> <ul> <li>Market expected to pick up after Ramadan</li> <li>Sector hit hard by coronavirus pandemic</li> </ul> </div> <div class="entry-meta hide-for-large no-print"> <div class="updated-ago"> Updated 15 March 2021 </div> <div class="entry-author"> Arab News </div> <div class="entry-date"> <time>March 15, 2021<span> 10:40</span></time> </div> <div class="entry-meta-footer"> <div class="grid-x align-justify"> <div class="cell shrink"> <div class="entry-views"><span class="views-count-placeholder nid-1825756"><i class="icomoon-icon icon-views"></i><span></span></span> </div> </div> <div class="cell shrink"> <div class="entry-shares-wrapper"> <div class="a2a_kit " addthis:title="Saudi Budget boss sees recovery in car hire market helped by pilgrims in second half of year" addthis:url="https://www.arabnews.com/node/1825756" data-a2a-url="https://www.arabnews.com/node/1825756" data-a2a-title="Saudi Budget boss sees recovery in car hire market helped by pilgrims in second half of year"> <a class="a2a_button_facebook facebook-btn-hover"><i class="icomoon-icon icon-facebook"></i></a> <a class="a2a_button_twitter twitter-btn-hover"><i class="icomoon-icon icon-twitter"></i></a> <a class="a2a_button_linkedin linkedin-btn-hover"><i class="icomoon-icon icon-linkedin"></i></a> <a class="a2a_button_whatsapp whatsapp-btn-hover"><i class="icomoon-icon icon-whatsapp"></i></a> <a class="a2a_button_email"><i class="icomoon-icon icon-envelope"></i></a> <a href="#" class="print-btn"><i class="icomoon-icon icon-printer"></i></a> </div> </div> </div> <div class="large-shrink"> <a style="background-color: #000; border-radius: 20px; padding: 2px 10px; font-size: 14px; color: #fff; font-family: isento-medium;" href="https://twitter.com/intent/follow?original_referer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.arabnews.com%2F&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Ebuttonembed%7Ctwterm%5Efollow%7Ctwgr%5Earabnews&region=follow_link&screen_name=arabnews"> <i class="icomoon-icon icon-twitter" style="font-size:14px;"></i> Follow </a> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="block-wrapper show-for-small-only" > <div class="block-content"> <div class="ad-holder text-center"> <div class="show-for-small-only"> <script> if (isMobileDevice()) { document.write("<div id='div-gpt-ad-3341368-3'></div>"); googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-3341368-3'); }); } </script> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="entry-content" itemprop="articleBody" data-io-article-url="https://www.arabnews.com/node/1825756/business-economy"> <div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><p> RIYADH: The Saudi car hire market will recover in the second half of the year led by short term rentals from Umrah and Hajj pilgrims, Budget CEO Fawaz Danish, told Asharq Business.<br /> The resumption of international flights to the Kingdom is expected to boost demand, he said.<br /> Car hire companies have been among the hardest hit by the pandemic with global travel coming to a near standstill. US-based Hertz became one of the first casualties in the sector after seeking bankruptcy protection in the early days of the pandemic.<br /> Still, the influx of millions of pilgrims to the Kingdom offers great potential for the hire sector, Danish said.<br /> The United International Transportation Company, trading as Budget Saudi Arabia, posted profits of SR187 million ($49.8 million) last year, which Danish said was a good performance considering prevailing market conditions.<br /> Budget Co. has distributed SR310 million of its profits to shareholders.<br /> Danish added that the planned listing of Theeb Rent a Car on the Tadawul stock exchange would be a further boost for the sector.</p> </div></div></div>  </div> </div> <div class="block-wrapper show-for-small-only" > <div class="block-content"> <div class="ad-holder text-center"> <div class="show-for-small-only"> <script> if (isMobileDevice()) { document.write("<div id='div-gpt-ad-3341368-4'></div>"); googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-3341368-4'); 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Saudi Budget boss sees recovery in car hire market helped by pilgrims in second half of year | Arab News