Uber has released its financial results for the first quarter of 2020. The global ride-hailing and food delivery company lost USD 2.94 billion in the first three months of this year, including USD 277 million in stock-based compensation expenses and pre-tax impairment write-downs of USD 2.1 billion.
The company said that its net loss, excluding the impairment write-downs, net after tax benefits, would have been USD 1.1 billion. The loss from operations, which perhaps provides a clearer picture of the company’s performance, grew 14% year-over-year to USD 1.26 billion. The adjusted EBITDA was a loss of USD 612 million.
Uber’s revenue in the first quarter grew 14% year-over-year to USD 3.54 billion. The revenue for Europe, the Middle East, and Africa grew 13% year-over-year to USD 552 million.
Gross bookings grew 8% year-over-year to USD 15.8 billion, but most of this growth came from Eats, which grew 52% year-over-year to USD 4.68 billion. Rides declined 5% year-over-year to USD 10.87 billion.
Earlier this week, Uber said that it is laying off 3,700 employees from its customer support and recruitment teams across the world. Its Middle Eastern subsidiary, Careem, laid off 31% of their workforce a day before.
Read this: Uber to lay off 3,700 employees of its global workforce
During a conference call with investors on Thursday, Dara Khosrowshahi, Uber’s CEO, said, “I won’t sugarcoat it. COVID-19 has had a dramatic impact on rides, with the business down globally around 80% in April.”
Uber’s Q2 numbers for this year will apparently take a bigger hit as the business in April was apparently worse than March, and the numbers won’t go back to pre-COVID levels for the rest of the months in Q2.
In a statement, Khosrowshahi said, “While our Rides business has been hit hard by the ongoing pandemic, we have taken quick action to preserve the strength of our balance sheet, focus additional resources on Uber Eats, and prepare us for any recovery scenario. Along with the surge in food delivery, we are encouraged by the early signs we are seeing in markets that are beginning to open back up. Our global footprint and highly variable cost structure remain an important advantage, as our expectation is that the Rides recovery will vary by city and country.”
This article first appeared on MENAbytes.