Uber India Increases Revenue 20X To $3.05 Mn In FY18

SUMMARY

Uber India increased its net profit by 512%

The cab-hailing company operates in 29 cities across India

Uber India contributed 11% to Uber's total trips worldwide

Global cab hailing company Uber has reported an increase of 19.67X in its revenue from its India business — Uber India Technology — reaching $3.05 Mn (INR 21.5 Cr) in the fiscal ending March 2018.

According to filings accessed via business intelligence platform Tofler, in FY17, Uber India posted revenue of $147.79K (INR 1.04 Cr). Also, the company noted a 512% rise in its net profit for FY18, reaching $27,854 (INR 19.6 Lakh) from $4,547 (INR 3.2 Lakh) in the previous year.

Uber India’s total expenses for FY18 were $3.01 Mn (INR 21.26 Cr), as against $137.6K (INR 97 Lakh) in the previous year.

Uber views India as a high-potential market and it has been innovating with its product here to help address problems such as low network connectivity, congestion, and pollution as well as to enable multiple price points.

In December 2018, a CNBC report cited an official mail by Uber India head Pradeep Parameswaran to CEO Dara Khosrowshahi, CFO Nelson Chai, and other Uber executives claiming that Uber India had recorded an annualised booking rate of $1.64 Bn (INR 11,651 Cr) in the third quarter of 2018.

With this, Uber India contributed 11% of the total trips to Uber worldwide. The company’s food delivery service, UberEats, has also grown seven times in the last four months of 2018.

The company recently stealthily filed for a global IPO. Uber also announced that it would expand its engineering team in India and was looking to double its product and engineering headcount across tech centres in Bengaluru and Hyderabad.

“As we look ahead to an IPO (initial public offering) and beyond, we are investing in future growth across our platforms, including food, freight, electric bikes and scooters, and high-potential markets in India and the Middle East where we continue to solidify our leadership position,” Uber’s Nelson Chai had said in 2018.

Meanwhile, Uber’s Indian rival, Ola, has been expanding its operations to foreign countries such as Australia, New Zealand, and the UK.

With no other cab aggregator being able to make a mark in the industry, the fight for a dominant market share continues to be limited to Ola and Uber.