Uber shares fall on first-quarter update

(Sharecast News) - Shares in Uber Technologies fell sharply on Wednesday, after quarterly numbers disappointed. The Wall Street firm reported a 20% increase in gross bookings to $37.65bn, while revenues improved 15% in the three months to 31 March to $10.13bn.

Revenues narrowly beat expectations for $10.11bn. But gross bookings were below forecasts for $37.92bn

The mobility taxi division reported a 25% jump in gross bookings in the first quarter, to $18.7bn, while delivery posted an 18% rise to $17.7bn.

Income from operations came in at $172m, a notable improvement on last year's $262m loss but down $480m quarter-on-quarter.

The net loss was $654m, which Uber said included a $721m net headwind pre-tax, "due to unrealised losses related to the revaluation of Uber's equity investments".

As trading got underway in New York, by 1445 BST the shares had lost 6%, having shed 8% in pre-market trading.

Dara Khosrowshahi, chief executive, said: "Our results this quarter once again demonstrate our ability to deliver consistent, profitable growth at scale.

"More than 7m people now choose to earn flexibly on Uber every month."

Chief financial officer Prashanth Mahendra-Rajah added: "Our multi-year growth framework is on track."

Looking ahead, Uber expects gross bookings to come in between $38.75bn and $40.25bn in the second quarter, and adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation of between $1.45bn and $1.53bn.