Uber enjoys record daily bookings in March

Reservations for the ride-hailing giant's mobility arm are currently running at an annualised rate of $30bn

SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA - MARCH 29: A pedestrian walks by the new Uber headquarters on March 29, 2021 in San Francisco, California. Uber is allowing some employees to return to work at their newly opened headquarters that was completed during the pandemic. San Francisco has entered the orange tier of reopening which allows non-essential offices to open at 25% capacity.   Justin Sullivan/Getty Images/AFP
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Uber witnessed record daily gross bookings in March, the highest monthly level in the firm’s 12-year history, as its business recovers from the Covid-19 pandemic.

The company's mobility arm, which includes its ride-hailing business, enjoyed its best month since March last year. It crossed a $30 billion annualised gross bookings run-rate, with average daily bookings up 9 per cent month-on-month, the company said in a statement to the US Securities and Exchange Commission.

Its delivery business, which more than doubled in 2020, crossed a $52bn annualised gross bookings run-rate in March, growing more than 150 per cent from a year ago.

“As vaccination rates increase in the US, we are observing that consumer demand for mobility is recovering faster than driver availability … and consumer demand for delivery continues to exceed courier availability,” the company said.

“We continue to believe that Uber is on track to reach quarterly adjusted EBITDA [earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation] profitability in 2021,” it added.

Last week, Uber announced that it is increasing investments in incentives to improve driver availability in the near-term. It launched a $250 million stimulus aimed at improving drivers’ earnings.

"Boosted incentives and guarantees will help welcome existing drivers back to Uber and ensure first-time drivers do well as they learn the ropes," Dennis Cinelli, Uber's vice president for mobility in the US and Canada, said in a blog.

In February, Uber posted a full-year net loss of $6.76bn for 2020, 20 per cent lower than in 2019. Revenue during the period dropped 14 per cent on the previous year to $11.1bn as the company's ride sharing service registered declines in bookings due to Covid-19 restrictions and lockdowns across the world.

Uber, which is expected to announce its first quarter earnings on May 5, said it expects a “significant accrual” in costs after it reclassified its drivers as workers in the UK last month.

The company is also facing a number of other challenges including a tax case before UK authorities, the ongoing pandemic, growing competition and the ability to attract drivers, consumers and other partners to its platform, Uber said in a statement to the SEC.