Uber rides take coronavirus hit but food-delivery business doubles

Homebound customers of Uber Technologies Inc more than doubled their orders from the company's food-delivery service in the second quarter but demand for ride-hailing trips only marginally recovered from pandemic rock-bottom.

The company said that despite those larger challenges it is sticking to its goal of being profitable on an adjusted basis before the end of 2021 thanks to stringent cost-cutting measures and a strong balance sheet. Uber recorded an adjusted loss in earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization of $837 million (636 million pounds) in the second quarter.

Shares were down 2.9% at $33.72 in after-hours trading.

Ride-hailing trips, in the past responsible for nearly two-thirds of Uber's revenue, increased 5 percentage points from their low in April, but gross bookings remained down 75% from last year.