Uber could be valued as high as $120 billion if the ride-hailing company goes public, as expected, in 2019 – despite being permanently in the red. Major US banks Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley have made valuation proposals to Uber, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal this week. This means the initial public offering (IPO) could be one of the largest in history – and Uber has yet to record a full-year profit. If the figure is correct, it would mean that Uber is worth more than three of the
October 17, 2018
Read time: 2 mins
8336 Uber could be valued as high as $120 billion if the ride-hailing company goes public, as expected, in 2019 – despite being permanently in the red.
Major US banks Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley have made valuation proposals to Uber, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal this week. This means the initial public offering (IPO) could be one of the largest in history – and Uber has yet to record a full-year profit.
If the figure is correct, it would mean that Uber is worth more than three of the world’s biggest car manufacturers – General Motors, Ford and Fiat Chrysler – combined, according to Reuters. Uber was valued far lower two months ago, at just $76 billion.
Reuters Breakingviews columnist Robert Cyran %$Linker: 2External<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-16"?><dictionary />000link-external saysReuters website linkfalsehttps://www.reuters.com/article/us-uber-ipo/uber-ipo-proposals-value-company-at-120-billion-wsj-idUSKCN1MQ1N8falsefalse%>: “So long as investors only care about growth, Uber’s going to do just fine because they’ve got various businesses: for instance, they’ve gotten into electric bikes rental, they’ve gotten into the delivery of food, you know they’ve talked about getting into air taxis. But as long as they can grow this fast, investors are all focused on the possibilities. And they think: ‘Well, you know, who cares about the losses today? At some point Uber’s going to be able to grow so much it will just throw off profits’.”
Private ride-hailing giant Uber, which is aiming to follow rival Lyft in becoming a public company this year, has warned that it may never be profitable.
The candid admission comes in a filing to the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) as Uber prepares for an initial public offering (IPO) which it reportedly hopes will value the company at $100 billion.
This potential IPO figure is some way below the $120bn predicted by analysts just last year.
And Uber warns: “We have incurred significant loss
Taxi-hailing giant Uber is suspending its service in the Spanish city of Barcelona.
The move comes after new regulations were passed by local authorities, according to Reuters.
The company started its UberX service in the city last year. But from now on, passengers using ride-hailing services will have to wait at least 15 minutes after booking a ride before they can be picked up – thus negating one of the key selling points of companies such as Uber.
Speed and convenience – as well as cost – are w
Drivers who ply their trade on apps such as Uber could be under greater scrutiny as part of proposals being put forward by the UK government.
The potential risk to passengers from the explosion of ride-hailing apps, as private-hire drivers are perceived to receive less thorough vetting – for example, to flag up past convictions – has long been argued.
Incidents such as the murders of passengers by a Didi driver in China heightened such concerns - although critics point out that a US Uber driver who ad
Transport for London (TfL) has described claims that it is deepening its relationship with Uber as ‘nonsense’.
Media reports suggested that London’s transit authority might be going to offer customers access to public transport services via the ride-hailing firm's app.
The Financial Times reported that Uber is attempting to add TfL's data about tube and bus timetables into the app.
But a spokesperson from TfL told ITS International that the only thing it is putting out is open data – and does no