Uber posts second-quarter net loss of $2.6bn

The ride-hailing company's revenue in the June quarter soared 105% to $8.1bn

Uber’s gross bookings surged 33 per cent year-on-year to $29.1 billion in the second quarter. AP

Ride-hailing company Uber reported a net loss in the second quarter, driven by losses related to the revaluation of the company’s stakes in Aurora, Grab and Zomato.

The California-based company’s net loss reached $2.6 billion, which includes a $1.7bn net headwind or pre-tax, Uber said in a statement. It also included $470 million in stock-based compensation expense. The company earned a net income of more than $1.1bn in the second quarter of last year.

Uber’s revenue in the quarter soared 105 per cent on an annualised basis to $8.1bn, surpassing the analysts' estimate of $7.3bn.

The company's adjusted income surged to $364m before interest, tax and other expenses in the three-month period, improving from a loss of $509m in the prior year period, as the company registered a jump in gross bookings in the April-June period.

“Last quarter I challenged our team to meet our profitability commitments even faster than planned — and they delivered … importantly, they delivered balanced growth,” said Dara Khosrowshahi, Uber’s chief executive.

The company's stock surged more than 15.3 per cent to $28.4 a share in premarket trading on Tuesday. The share price has dropped more than 43 per cent in the past 12 months.

Uber's gross bookings surged 33 per cent year-on-year to $29.1bn in the second quarter, while delivery gross bookings increased 7 per cent during the period to $13.9bn, and mobility bookings surged 55 per cent to $13.4bn.

Airport gross bookings represented nearly 15 per cent of the mobility bookings in the second quarter, the company said

​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​Revenue in the US and Canada jumped nearly 149 per cent yearly to more than $4.9bn in the past quarter. It grew 57 per cent in Latin America to $481m and 99 per cent in Europe, the Middle East and Africa to more than $1.8bn.

Revenue also increased about 14 per cent to $810m in the Asia-Pacific region.

The company said the unrestricted cash and cash equivalents were $4.4bn as of June 30. Free cash flow, defined as net cash flows from operating activities less capital expenditures, soared to $382m.

"We became a free cash flow generator in second quarter, as we continued to scale our asset-light platform, and we will continue to build on that momentum,” said Nelson Chai, Uber’s chief financial officer.

“This marks a new phase for Uber, self-funding future growth with disciplined capital allocation, while maximising long-term returns for shareholders.”

Trips on Uber’s platform grew 9 per cent quarterly and 24 per cent on an annual basis to 1.87 billion in the second quarter, or approximately 21 million trips per day on average.

The monthly active platform consumers reached 122 million, up 21 per cent annually.