New York (AFP)

In the second quarter, Uber recorded a record loss of more than $ 5 billion, even though its growth slowed significantly, raising doubts about the company's business model.

The sanction was immediate on the New York Stock Exchange: the title of the world leader in the reservation of passenger cars with driver (VTC) has lost up to 12% in electronic exchanges following the fence before limiting the damage. It was still losing 6% around 22:00 GMT.

The company's experts were expecting a big loss because of the extraordinary out-of-pocket compensation paid to employees when Uber arrived on Wall Street. But not of this magnitude.

And even without this element, the group lost 1.3 billion dollars from April to June, against 1 billion in the previous quarter.

In addition, Uber greatly disappointed by announcing that it had increased its turnover by only 14%, to 3.17 billion dollars, where it was still up 20% at the beginning of the year.

- Price war -

"Although we continue to invest heavily in our growth, we also want it to be a quality growth and this quarter, we have made progress in this direction," said financial director Nelson Chai in a statement.

The gross amount of bookings, the money that Uber receives before paying drivers and other expenses such as tolls, has increased by 31%. The total number of races jumped 35% to 1.68 billion, and the number of active users per month rose by 30%, to 99 million worldwide.

But Uber continues to spend a lot of money, in promotions for example to attract new customers or keep its market share. Its expenses more than doubled over a year to $ 8.65 billion.

However, the company's boss, Dara Khosrowshahi, said in a conference call with analysts on Thursday, "the competitive environment on the car reservation platform continues to stabilize and improve."

The leaders of its number one competitor in the United States, Lyft, had made similar comments the day before, suggesting that the price war between the two groups is subsiding.

But Lyft also reported a jump in sales of 72% in the second quarter and, more optimistic about its business, expected to 2019 losses less than expected. This confidence had benefited Uber, whose title jumped Thursday by 8% to 42.97 dollars before the publication of its results. Even after that start, he stayed below his introductory price on Wall Street in early May.

Uber plans to use this lull to strengthen its Uber Eats meal delivery service in a sector "where competition is intense, investments are high, but the potential is incredible," said Khosrowshahi.

UberEats is one of the diversification activities on which the group is based, but which faces increasing competition from start-ups like DoorDash. Uber also invests in electric bikes and scooters or autonomous cars.

© 2019 AFP