Uber posts $1B loss in third quarter as growth in bookings slows

Ride-sharing company Uber on Wednesday announced losses of $1.07 billion for the third quarter of 2018 as the company faced a third financial quarter in a row of single-digit gains in bookings and deliveries.

Reuters reports that the company posted a 20 percent increase from the second quarter, but was down 27 percent from the year before.

the company’s gross bookings totaled $12.7 billion, up 6 percent from Q2 and an increase of 41 percent from this time last year.

{mosads}“We had another strong quarter for a business of our size and global scope,” the Uber Chief Financial Officer Nelson Chai said, according to the news service.

Chai also touted Uber’s “high-potential markets in India and the Middle East where we continue to solidify our leadership position,” according to Reuters.

The news of Uber’s losses come one month after the company was evaluated by some Wall Street banks at $120 billion ahead of a planned IPO next year.

Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi said in May that the company was “on track” to go public in 2019, while the $120 billion figure is almost double what the company was evaluated at earlier this year.

“I do think that we’re on track in 2019 for an IPO. Lots of things can happen in the world but we have a reasonable buffer as well, so I think we’re in a pretty good spot,” Khosrowshahi said on CNBC in May.

Uber has battled a number of controversies including alleged mistreatment of women that lead to the ouster of the company’s CEO and co-founder, Travis Kalanick, last year.