Uber 2Q Revenue Down 30%... Uber Eats Revenue Doubles Increase

[Image source=Reuters Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kwon Jae-hee] Despite a surge in demand for Uber Eats due to the impact of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19), Uber has not been able to offset losses in its core ride-sharing business.

According to the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) on the 6th (local time), Uber Technologies announced that its revenue for the second quarter of this year was $2.24 billion (approximately 2.6548 trillion KRW), a 29% decrease compared to the same period last year. Accordingly, the net loss recorded was $1.78 billion (approximately 2.1096 trillion KRW).

This was due to the total gross bookings in the core ride-sharing business dropping sharply by 73% year-on-year to $3.05 billion (approximately 3.6148 trillion KRW) amid the COVID-19 impact.

During the same period, the number of Uber users also decreased by 44% to 55 million.

On the other hand, the total gross bookings in the delivery business, including food delivery, surged 113% to $6.96 billion.

In the second quarter of last year, total gross bookings for ride-sharing ($12.19 billion) were nearly four times those of the delivery business ($3.39 billion), but this was completely reversed this year.

Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi stated, "Due to the COVID-19 crisis, delivery has shifted from a luxury to an essential service like water and electricity," and added, "We believe Uber users will continue to place delivery orders for food and other items even after the pandemic subsides."

Meanwhile, Uber Technologies is aggressively driving its food delivery business as a new growth engine by acquiring Postmates, the fourth-largest food delivery company in the U.S., for $2.65 billion.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.