Uber Techologies has posted a loss of USD 1 billion for the first quarter, in the first set of financial figures after a disappointing IPO on the New York Stock Exchange earlier in May, the BBC reports.
The loss had been expected by many analysts and happened despite a 20 percent rise in revenues to USD 3.1 billion. Monthly active users increased to 94 million.
Uber shares have fallen by almost 11 percent since its listing on May 10, which was one of the biggest IPOs of the year, but rose by almost 3 percent after the executives’ call with analysts to discuss future growth plans.
In a call after the results were published, CEO Dara Khosrowshahi said the disappointing start as a listed company was just a step of “the long journey of making Uber a platform for the movement of people and transport of commerce around the world at a massive scale”.
The company is facing strong competition on both the ride hailing and the food delivery sides, but Uber Eats saw substantial growth in adjusted net revenue and gross bookings in Q1 2019 compared to the same quarter last year. Adjusted net revenue for the segment, which measures revenue after payments to the drivers and restaurants, grew 31 percent to USD 239 million. Gross bookings increased 108 percent to USD 3.07 billion, according to CNBC.
Khosrowshahi said that Uber Eats has the potential to grow significantly and that it could even overtake ride sharing, which he described as “an enormous win.”
Uber grew across all of the regions where it operates, except for Latin America, where competitor Didi has been expanding.