SAN FRANCISCO – Uber yesterday reported a profit in the second quarter on one-time gains, and said its pandemic-stalled ride-hailing business is showing signs of recovering.
The company based here reported a profit of US$1.1 billion (RM4.65 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 includes gains of US$1.4 billion from the revaluation of its investment in Chinese ride-sharing firm Didi and another US$272 million from its stake in autonomous technology firm Aurora.
Uber made strong progress in luring drivers and couriers back to its smartphone-summoned ride and delivery businesses, said chief executive Dara Khosrowshahi in an earnings call.
“The majority of drivers who are coming back to the platform are what we call ‘resurrected drivers’. They’ve driven with us in the past.
“As vaccination rates go up, we are seeing resurrected drivers coming back.”
But, its delivery operations including Uber Eats generated the largest revenue, with the unit continuing to benefit from trends that began during Covid-19 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,” said Khosrowshahi.
He sees the Eats restaurant delivery service as a hedge of sorts, likely registering increased demand in the event of new virus lockdowns that crimp Uber’s ride-sharing business.
Revenue from the company’s ride and delivery units essentially doubled, while money taken in by a freight division that connects truckers with shippers jumped 65%.
“Uber’s ride-sharing business is on a clear path to recovery from the pandemic’s impact,” said eMarketer analyst Eric Haggstrom.
“We anticipate that Uber will experience hiccups before returning to their pre-pandemic ride-sharing levels; the Delta variant is deterring many drivers from the ride-sharing business.”
Tech analyst Rob Enderle of Enderle Group expects Uber’s earnings income to remain on a bumpy road due to the pandemic.
“With the variants cutting through the population, Uber’s income is going to be pretty uneven at least for the near future.”
Meanwhile, the Eats unit is showing “incredible” traction, said Haggstrom.
Uber shares were down more than 3% in after-market trade following the release of the earnings figures.
Last month, the company 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, August 5, 2021
