Ride Hailing Giant Uber’s Global Revenue Up 43% In 2018

Global ride-hailing company Uber has reportedly clocked in annual revenue of $11.3 Bn (INR 80, 641 Cr) in 2018. This is a 43% increase from 2017. The company also narrowed down its losses to $1.8 Bn (INR 12,845 Cr) last year from $2.2 Bn (INR 15,700 Cr) loss in 2017.

Uber has reportedly recorded $50 Bn (INR 3.5 Lakh Cr) in total bookings for its cab and food delivery services combined in 2018.

According to reports, Uber racked up a revenue of $3 Bn (INR 21,409 Cr) for its fourth quarter which is just 2% growth from the third quarter. However, the company’s gross bookings for the fourth quarter increased by 11% from the last quarter to reach $14.2 Bn (INR 1 Lakh Cr).

Citing sources, a media report stated that its food delivery service UberEATS accounted for over $2.5 Bn (INR 17, 840 Cr) quarterly bookings.  

Uber which globally faces competition from Ola in India, Didi Chuxing, and Lyft has been trying to attract more customers by offering discounted rides, increasing driver commissions and is also investing in marketing and recruiting. It is also taking up many initiatives to step up its game in the food delivery business. However, these may also put pressure on the company’s bottom line.

US-based Uber had filed the paperwork for an IPO on December 2018. In January, the company had said that it recorded an increase nearly 20X in its revenue from its India business — Uber India Technology — reaching $3.05 Mn (INR 21.7 Cr) in the fiscal ending March 2018.

The company which considers India as a high-potential market has been taking up several initiatives to strengthen its presence in the country and stay ahead of its Indian rival Ola.

Last month, Uber revealed its plans to double its investment in Bengaluru and Hyderabad in terms of headcount, especially in the engineering division.

It is looking to increase the total number of employees to 1,000 in both the centres within the next 12 months. This hiring forms a part of the company’s plan to make India the base for building and experimenting with new products and export them to international markets such as Latin America and Africa.

In December, an internal email shared by Uber India head Pradeep Parameswaran to CEO Dara Khosrowshahi revealed that Uber India recorded an annualised booking rate of $1.64 Bn (INR 11,703 Cr) in the third quarter. It was also reported that India accounted for 11% of the total trips received by the platform from across the globe.

Last year in May, Dara Khosrowshahi had also reiterated that Uber would continue to reinvest in its products and technology across emerging markets such as India and the Middle East.

[The development was reported by ET]

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