Uber demand nearly back to pre-pandemic level
US ride-hailing and food delivery giant Uber raised its guidance as demand for rides and food delivery is almost back to pre-pandemic levels.
Uber said in a filing it now expected adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization of US$130-150 million in the first three months of the year, up from its previous projection of US$100-130 million.
On the ride-hailing front, the trips-taken metric has bounced back to 90% of February 2019 results, it said.
Uber’s CEO Dara Khosrowshahi noted that growth in ridership has been broad-based, including trips for travel, commuting and evening outings.
“Our mobility business is bouncing back from Omicron much faster than we expected,” he added.
Gross bookings for airports, which are among the most profitable routes for Uber, were up over 50% month-on-month in February.
Khosrowshahi said the company is “preparing for the upcoming travel season to be one of the strongest ever.”
During the peak of the pandemic, Uber’s delivery business thrived as consumers became more dependent on ordering food and groceries online, cushioning the firm against a decline in its ride-hailing business.
There has been concern that delivery business may slow down as ride-hailing demand picks up, but gross bookings on the delivery side actually reached an all-time high in February, the company said.
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