Uber said to lose $1.3B in 1st half

The ride-hailing giant Uber Technologies is not a public company, but every three months, dozens of shareholders get on a conference call to hear the latest details on its business performance from its head of finance, Gautam Gupta.

Last Friday, Gupta told investors that Uber’s losses mounted in the second quarter. Even in the US, where Uber had turned a profit during its first quarter, the company was once again losing money.

In the first quarter of this year, Uber lost about $520 million before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, according to people familiar with the matter. In the second quarter, the losses significantly exceeded $750 million, including a roughly $100 million shortfall in the US, those people said. That means Uber’s losses in the first half of 2016 totaled at least $1.27 billion.

Subsidies for Uber’s drivers are responsible for the majority of the company’s losses globally, Gupta told investors, according to people familiar with the matter. An Uber spokesman declined to comment.

Uber’s backers range from venture capital firms like Benchmark Capital to the investment bank Goldman Sachs.

Altogether, Uber has raised more than $16 billion in cash and debt. Its latest valuation is $69 billion.