Uber Technologies' (UBER -0.32%) $2.6 billion buyout of Postmates might not generate the kinds of profits investors were expecting. In a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Uber said Postmates has an accumulated deficit of nearly $1 billion, meaning even a pandemic-fueled increase in demand saw the food delivery specialist recording losses of $32 million in the second quarter.
Image source: Postmates.
According to Uber, Postmates saw a 125% increase in revenue during the period as sales jumped from $71 million to $160 million. And though that allowed it to slash its losses for the quarter, it indicates that even during a period of unprecedented consumer demand, Postmates is still a money-losing operation.
That's not much different from Grubhub (GRUB), which despite seeing a 41% jump in second-quarter revenue, recorded a $0.17 per share loss for the period. Uber has said further consolidation will be necessary for the industry to reach its full potential.
Postmates management did offer a "base case" scenario that sees it generating $4 million in adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) next year, which will grow to $85 million in 2023, with an "upside" scenario foreseeing an increase to as much as $109 million within three years.
The SEC filing also disclosed Postmates received two offers from special purpose acquisition companies this summer that assigned an enterprise value of $2.5 billion and $2.3 billion to the food delivery company, and it revealed the Federal Trade Commission issued a second request for information surrounding the merger.
While a second request doesn't mean the agency will oppose the deal, it does mean it could potentially hurt competition in the food delivery marketplace and may require concessions before being approved.
