Wednesday 08 May 2024 2:44 pm

Uber shares topped nearly nine per cent in pre-market trading today after it pulled a U-turn and booked a net loss of $654m (£524m) for its first quarter.

It is a disappointment for the tech firm that posted its first full-year operating profit in February, describing it as an “inflection point” following years of losses.

The ride-hailing company said it swung to the loss due to a $721m (£577.7m) headwind from the revaluation of its equity investments and the costs of legal settlements.

Uber’s loss from legal, tax and regulatory changes and settlements more than doubled from $250m (£200.3m) in the first three months of 2023 to $527m (£422.2m) in the same period this year.

Uber said operating profit was just $172m (£137.8m) in the first quarter, down $480m (£384m) from the previous quarter and far south of analysts’ forecasts of over $600m (£480.7m).

But revenue grew 15 per cent year on year to $10.1bn (£8.1bn) while gross bookings in the three months ended 31 March 2024 rose 20 per cent year on year to $37.7bn (£30.2bn).

“Our results this quarter once again demonstrate our ability to deliver consistent, profitable growth at scale,” said Uber chief Dara Khosrowshahi.

“More than 7m people now choose to earn flexibly on Uber every month, with driver earnings of $16.6bn continuing to grow faster than our topline.”

But Uber and rivals such as Deliveroo have been battling a long-running dispute over the status of their drivers, leading to global regulatory upheaval.

Since 2021 in the UK, Uber drivers have been classed as ‘workers’, which entitles them to sick pay and annual leave but is not full employee status.

As of last week, Uber is also battling a £250m lawsuit from tens of thousands of London’s black cab drivers, who have accused the company of unlawful activities to steal market share.

Prashanth Mahendra-Rajah, chief financial officer, said, “Our multi-year growth framework is on track, with audience up 15 per cent and frequency up 6 per cent in Q1.

“We reached a new quarterly record for Adjusted EBITDA, which grew 82 per cent year on year, and we generated free cash flow of $4.2bn over the trailing twelve months.”