International ride hailing company Uber has opened its books to potential investors ahead of its hotly anticipated stock market debut in May.
The company released documents Thursday that provide the most detailed view of the world's largest ride-hailing service since its inception a decade ago. The unveiling comes four months after Uber took its first step toward its initial public offering (IPO), which analysts forecast could raise as much as $10 billion, making it one of the largest stock market listings in history.
Uber’s IPO fling document is 285 pages long, plus 83 additional financial statements. By comparison, Facebook Inc.’s IPO document in 2012 was 150 pages plus 29 in additional financial statements. It will no doubt take potential investors time to sift through all of Uber’s information and finances.
But at first glance, the financial books show good news in that Uber has been generating robust revenue growth. Uber's revenue totaled $11.3 billion in 2018, a 42% increase from $7.9 billion in 2017. But the bad news is that Uber has racked up nearly $8 billion in losses since its inception. The company forecasts continued financial losses for the foreseeable future.
The financial documents also show that Travis Kalanick, the former Chief Executive Officer who resigned in 2017 under pressure from the board, is one of Uber's largest shareholders, owning nearly 9% of the ride-hailing company's stock. Alphabet, the parent company of Google, owns 5% of the company. Cayman, a subsidiary of Softbank, is Uber's largest shareholder with 16%.
The IPO filing also shows that Uber is investing heavily in freight shipping and meal deliveries, notably Uber Eats. Also, the company has plans to remain a truly global brand having recently paid $3.1 billion to acquire Careem, a Middle East rival.
