Uber posts profit on one-time gains

[SAN FRANCISCO] Uber on Wednesday reported a profit in second quarter on one-time gains and said its pandemic-stalled ride-hailing business was showing signs of recovering.

The San Francisco-based company reported a profit of US$1.1 billion. Revenue rose to US$3.9 billion in the recently ended quarter, more than double what it took in during the same period last year.

The net income for the quarter included gains of US$1.4 billion from the revaluation of its investment in Chinese ride-share firm Didi and another US$272 million from its stake in the autonomous technology firm Aurora, according to Uber.

Uber made "strong progress" in luring drivers and couriers back to its smartphone-summoned ride and delivery businesses, chief executive Dara Khosrowshahi said in an earnings release.

But its delivery operations including Uber Eats generated the largest amount of revenue, with the unit continuing to benefit from trends that began during pandemic lockdowns last year.

"Our platform is getting stronger each quarter, with consumers who engage with both Mobility and Delivery now generating nearly half of our total company gross bookings," Mr Khosrowshahi said.

Revenue from Uber's rides and delivery units essentially doubled, while money taken in by a freight division that connects truckers with shippers jumped 65 per cent, according to Uber.

"Uber's ride sharing business is on a clear path to recovery, however, expect some hiccups along the way as the delta variant, particularly as many drivers still feel uncomfortable with customers in their cars," said eMarketer analyst Eric Haggstrom.

"On the delivery side, new verticals such as grocery and alcohol have shown incredible early traction."

Uber shares were down more than 7 per cent in after-market trades that followed release of the earnings figures.

Uber in July announced a US$2.25 billion deal to beef up its freight unit with the acquisition of Transplace, a firm specialising in logistics management software.

AFP