For the first quarter of 2020, Uber lost $2.9 billion as its overseas investments were impacted by the coronavirus pandemic.
Meanwhile, the company is looking to its growing food delivery business and aggressive cost-cutting to ease the pain.
The ride-hailing giant said it is offloading Jump, its bike and scooter business, to Lime, a company in which it is investing $85 million. Jump had been losing about $60 million a quarter.
“While our Rides business has been hit hard by the ongoing pandemic, we have taken quick action to preserve the strength of our balance sheet, focus additional resources on Uber Eats, and prepare us for any recovery scenario,” said CEO Dara Khosrowshahi in a statement.
The CEO added “Along with the surge in food delivery, we are encouraged by the early signs we are seeing in markets that are beginning to open back up.”
On Wednesday, San Francisco-based Uber said it was cutting 3,700 full-time workers, or about 14 per cent of its workforce, as people avoiding contagion either stay indoors or try to limit contact with others. Its main US rival Lyft announced last month it would lay off 982 people, or 17 per cent of its workforce because of plummeting demand.
