Uber lifts financial veil as sales outpace losses

London: Uber Technologies Inc. isn’t required to report its finances publicly, but the privately held company has decided to forgo that luxury for the first time. Uber said its revenue growth is outpacing losses, hoping to show the business is on a strong trajectory as it attempts to address a recent cascade of scandals.
The ride-hailing giant more than doubled gross bookings in 2016 to $20bn. Net revenue was $6.5bn, while adjusted net losses were $2.8bn, excluding the China business, which it sold last summer.
Uber declined to report first-quarter numbers, saying they were in line with expectations but that the company hasn’t yet presented them to investors. The company said it’s pleased to see revenue growth far exceeding losses last year and that its business is still performing well this year even as it faces unyielding controversy. In recent months, Uber has seen an exodus of top executives as it investigates claims of sexual harassment and a toxic work culture. Uber is facing a lawsuit over self-driving car technology from Alphabet Inc.’s Waymo and backtracked on a program called Greyball that was used to deceive government officials.
Uber’s business is massive and getting bigger. In the last three months of 2016, gross bookings increased 28 percent from the previous quarter to $6.9bn. The company generated $2.9bn in revenue, a 74 percent increase from the third quarter. Losses rose 6.1 percent over the same period to $991m.
Uber said it uses generally accepted accounting principles. Revenue includes only the portion Uber takes from fares, except in the case of its carpooling service.
Valued at $69bn by investors, Uber operates in about 75 countries. The company was spending aggressively to compete in China, with about $1bn in losses there last year, bringing its losses to $3.8bn globally. It sold the China business in August. Uber said global net losses were $1.2bn after accounting for the sale, taxes and other factors.