Uber quarterly loss jumps as it invests in 'big bets'

Uber quarterly loss jumps as it invests in 'big bets', photo AFP

The San Francisco-based smartphone ride star reported it lost US$891 million on net revenue of US$2.8 billion, while overall bookings rose to US$12 billion.

"We had another great quarter, continuing to grow at an impressive rate for a business of our scale," said Uber chief executive Dara Khosrowshahi.

He added that Uber is investing in "big bets" including restaurant take-away delivery service Uber Eats and "environmentally friendly modes of transport" like Express Pool, e-bikes and scooters.

The company is also devoting resources to what it sees as high-potential markets in India and the Middle East, according to Khosrowshahi.

Uber has made a practice of disclosing its earnings, despite not being required to since it is a private company.

It said in May that its revenue revved up in the first quarter of this year and that its value climbed to US$62 billion in a new funding round.

The company said its net revenue in the first quarter was US$2.5 billion on sales of US$11.3 billion.

Uber's adjusted net loss in the first quarter was US$577 million.

New York's city council last week dealt a blow to Uber and other car-for-hire companies, passing a bill to cap the number of vehicles they operate and impose minimum pay standards for drivers.

It makes New York the first major US city to limit the number of app-based rides and to impose pay rules, with authorities under pressure to act over pollution and worsening congestion.

Uber in July hit the brakes on self-driving trucks, shifting gears to focus just on autonomous cars.

It is among a number of technology and car companies racing toward what some contend is an inevitable future in which vehicles drive themselves.

"We've decided to stop development on our self-driving truck program and move forward exclusively with cars," Eric Meyhofer, head of Uber advanced technologies group, said in an email to AFP.

Uber had suspended its self-driving car programme after a crash that killed a woman pushing a bicycle in a street in Arizona in March of this year.