The ride-sharing company Uber Technologies saw a worldwide operating loss of at least $1.27 billion in the first half of 2016, Bloomberg reported on Thursday, citing data shared in a conference call with investors on Friday.
“Even in the U.S., where Uber had turned a profit during its first quarter, the company was once again losing money,” said the financial news wire.
“It’s hard to find much of a precedent for Uber’s losses,” Bloomberg added, Webvan and Kozmo.com—two now-defunct phantoms of the original dot-com boom—lost just over $1 billion combined in their short lifetimes.
Amazon.com Inc. is famous for losing money while increasing its market value, but its biggest loss ever totaled $1.4 billion in 2000. Uber exceeded that number in 2015 and is on pace to do it again this year.”
Uber’s reported loss comes in a year that has seen some regulatory setbacks for the ridesharing app.
Voters in the Austin effectively gave the ridesharing service the boot when they approved a referendum that slapped new regulations on ridesharing.
Both Uber and Lyft subsequently abandoned the quirky Texas capital. What’s more, earlier this month, Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker, a Republican, signed a bill into law which institutes a tax on ridesharing and earmarks the revenue to financially assist the Bay State’s taxicab industry.
• Ken Shepherd can be reached at kshepherd@washingtontimes.com.
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