Washington (EFE)
Uber reported that its billing from January to March of this year grew by 29%, to 8,823 million dollars.
Adjusted gross operating profit, or ebitda, rose 353% to $761 million.
During a conference call with analysts, Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi highlighted Spain, along with Germany and Turkey, as one of the fastest growing international markets for the company.
“Spain is a highly regulated market in which we are having great success in terms of adding supply. Profits are strong, demand is strong, and Spain is growing at a very significant rate. And we think we are gaining ground,” she said.
The use of AI
The executive also noted that the company is beginning to apply artificial intelligence (AI) in its operations.
And that he foresees a significant impact of this technology on productivity, cost reduction and improvement of the customer experience.
“The initial and most significant effect that AI is going to have on our company is related to productivity,” Khosrowshahi explained, adding that Uber is “innovating faster than anyone.”
At another point in the conference call, the Uber CEO noted that while the company is innovating and building “others are restructuring” so it is in a better position than the competition.
Khosrowshahi also stated that AI will enable cost reduction through “chatbots” that will replace human agents in customer interactions.
Uber results
Uber’s figures indicate that a large part of the growth was the result of the improvement in the results of the Mobility unit.
The income of the company in charge of transporting passengers increased by 72%, going from 2,518 million dollars to 4,330 million.
At the same time, Delivery unit revenue increased 23% to $3.093 million and Cargo fell 23% to $1.4 billion.
The number of trips increased significantly during the period, by 24%, to 2,124 million.
Going forward, Khosrowshahi explained in a statement that the company will focus on expanding the advantages of its products, size and platform “to sustain growth leadership in both revenue and net profit.”
For his part, the company’s financial director, Nelson Chai, said that he expects an increase in the company’s profitability in the second quarter, a period in which he expects to have an adjusted ebitda of between 800 and 850 million dollars.