by Tina Bellon and Nivedita Balu
May 4 (Reuters) – Uber on Wednesday reported better-than-expected quarterly results and a quarterly EBITDA target above expectations, saying that unlike rival Lyft it did not need a increase its spending to attract new drivers.
On the New York Stock Exchange, the title however plunged by 11.6% in the first exchanges, driven by the disappointing results of Lyft, which fell by 30.24% after announcing Tuesday a forecast for quarterly gross operating surplus much lower than expected due to additional costs.
Uber reported a drop in the number of monthly active users in the first three months of the year compared to the previous quarter, a common industry trend during the winter months, but was keen to distance itself from its competitor .
“Our driver base is at a high post-pandemic level and is more engaged on Uber than on other platforms. Importantly, we expect this trend to continue without significant additional incentive investments,” said Uber chief executive Dara Khosrowshahi.
In the first quarter, Uber posted an adjusted Ebitda (earnings before tax, finance costs, depreciation and amortization) of $168 million (€159.23 million), beating analysts’ average expectations of $132 million , according to Refinitiv’s IBES consensus.
However, on a net basis, Uber’s first-quarter loss jumped to $5.9 billion from $108 million a year earlier. The group having lost 5.6 billion dollars in investments in companies, in particular in the Chinese carpooling company Didi Global. (French version Federica Mileo, edited by Kate Entringer and Jean-Michel Bélot)