Uber (UBER) has posted its first full-year of operating profits since it floated on the stock market five years ago.
It made income from operations of $1.11bn in 2023, up from a loss of $1.832bn in 2022, beating expectations. Revenue grew 17%, lifted by a 24% jump in trips in Uber vehicles, as well as a rise in bookings in the run-up to Christmas.
Gross bookings, which includes deliver orders, ride hailing and driver earnings, grew 22% to $37.6bn in the final three months of 2023.
The number of trips and monthly active platform consumers grew 24% and 15%, respectively, compared to the same period the previous year.
Chief executive Dara Khosrowshahi said: “2023 was an inflection point for Uber, proving that we can continue to generate strong, profitable growth at scale. Our audiences are larger and more engaged than ever, with our platform powering an average of nearly 26 million daily trips last year.”
Uber predicts that core profits and gross bookings will be strong in the first quarter of this year.