Ride-sharing app Uber’s latest set of results show its nascent food delivery business has overtaken its taxi service as people around the world stayed at home during lockdown.
For its second quarter of 2020, the San Francisco-based firm reported overall revenues had slumped 29% year on year to $2.2bn (£1.7bn), driven by a 75% collapse in global ride sharing.
Overall bookings for the April to June period fell 35% year on year to $10.2bn (£7.8bn) and active users of the app’s services fell 44% to 55 million.
Uber’s overall losses increased to $1.8bn (£1.4bn).
However, despite the slump in its core ride-sharing business, customers drove $1.2bn (£0.9bn) in revenue for the company’s food delivery business, a 103% increase year on year.
Speaking to investors on Thursday, Uber chief executive Dara Khosrowshahi said the delivery business had shifted from being a “luxury to a utility” and had become as important as its core ride-sharing arm.
Khosrowshahi said the growth of food delivery was like “building a second Uber in three years”.
“Our team continues to move at Uber speed to respond to the pandemic’s impact on our communities and on our business, leading our industry forward with new products and safety technologies, and harnessing the strong tailwinds driving exceptional growth in delivery, with gross bookings growing 122% year-over-year excluding exited markets,” he added.
“We are fortunate to have both a global footprint and such a natural hedge across our two core segments: as some people stay closer to home, more people are ordering from Uber Eats than ever before.”
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