Uber’s India business is steadily consolidating its performance as has been revealed by its latest filing, which was accessed by business intelligence platform Tofler. As per the filing, the revenue of Uber India – Uber India Technology – grew by 19.67% to touch $3.05 Mn (INR 21.5 Cr) in the financial year ending March 2018. The revenue also helped in propelling the net profit by whopping 512% for FY18, reaching $27,854 (INR 19.6 Lakh) from $4,547 (INR 3.2 Lakh) in the last financial year.
The manifold increase in net profit and revenue will certainly cheer up the investors, but inflated growth in expenses may leave them little disappointed. The total expenses for FY18 stood at $3.01 Mn (INR 21.26 Cr), as opposed to $137.6K (INR 97 Lakh) in the preceding year.
The ride hailing giant also claimed that the Indian business contributed almost 11% to its global trip for FY18.
These encouraging numbers should help in infusing more optimism among Uber’s investors ahead of its much anticipated IPO this year. The company had secretly filed for a global IPO last month, media reports claimed.
These encouraging numbers will also potentially quall all the possible merger talks between Uber and Ola. Since SoftBank is a common investor in both the companies, the rumors of a possible merger of these two ride-hailing giants gained ground. This after Japanese investment giant had last year spearheaded the merger between Uber and its Southeast Asian rival Grab.
Uber’s CEO Dara Khosrowshahi has already given sufficient hint that he considers India as a high potential market and, therefore, will continue to invest in the market.
Meanwhile, Ola is busy exploring opportunities across international markets in its quest for more profit and revenue. Rumor mills are already rife with reports that India’s home grown ride-hailing company is planning for an IPO, which partly explains its aggressive expansion strategy.