Uber has been regarded as one of the major pioneers of the ride-hailing service. Through their meteoric rise it became a welcome option to call for transport on the dot by contacting contracted drivers on a smartphone app. The success of Uber in this regard helped it to establish an international presence years ago. However, maintaining operations overseas has not been entirely sweet for them, and in recent years they have shut down operations in several foreign markets to stay afloat. And that was the wise move; in cutting their losses, Uber has managed to hit the green this year.
CNN reports that Uber has managed to get its revenues up by 63% from its level the year before. Financial reports filed by the ride-hailing giant has it that their second quarter was now at $2.8 billion, with an $891 million loss. But that is much better already than the $1.1 billion losses they had from 2017 when several of their international offices were floundering in the face of formidable competition from local ride-hailing alternatives. It also helps that their customer gross bookings are now holding at $12 billion, a 41% jump from the last.
Ever since Uber began to divest itself of their failing international operations such as with Southeast Asia months ago, it has been slowly but steadily reversing its fortunes. That includes a rare profit reported from the company’s first quarter of 2018, released in May. All this information has been graciously made public by Uber, despite being under no obligation to be so open, seeing as they are still a private firm with no public listing.
Dara Khosrowshahi, CEO of Uber since last year, when she took over during the company’s days of uncertainty, gave a public statement expressing her satisfaction at the positive quarterly report with signs of renewed growth. “Going forward, we’re deliberately investing in the future of our platform,” she said. That is not to say that tomorrow will be smooth sailing for Uber though. Some of its present-day issues to address include the fallout of their self-driving car development following an incident in Arizona where a pedestrian was struck and killed by an Uber autonomous SUV. Then there is the matter of New York City blazing a trail of sorts in setting limits for the number of ride-hail vehicles and the insistence of giving a flat minimum rate to drivers for services like Uber and rival Lyft.
Part of Uber’s strategy for diversifying its offered services includes inroads to sharing-schemes for bicycles and scooters. It is also looking into providing food delivery services for businesses, similar to some ride-hailing companies from other countries that have gone beyond their initial range of services.
Image courtesy of NewCo Shift
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