Lyft Inc is a bit closer to get the status of being first public listed ride-haling company by releasing the documents filed for an initial public offering on Friday which will also unveil details of its financial performance to the public.
Lyft’s filing of documents with Securities and Exchange Commission for an IPO put it ahead of its archrival Uber Technologies which is also planning to go public.
The filing with U.S. securities regulators will now allow the company to launch a roadshow to be a magnet for prospective investors.
The documents files with the regulators revealed that Lyft, in 2018, generated revenue of $2.16 billion which surged about 200 percent from revenue generated in 2017 and 528 percent from the revenue company had generated in 2016.
Lyft’s gross booking, the total selling value of rides before deduction of driver’s pay, touched $8.05 billion mark last year which remained 76 percent higher from the mark touched by the company in 2017 and 300 percent above the gross bookings made by the company in 2016.
The figures also show that San Francisco-based company has been facing heavy losses as for the year 2018 it posted a loss of $911 million which remained more than the losses of $688 million and $682 million posted by the company for years 2017 and 2016 respectively, for which Lyft also warned that losses could be continued as company remained spending towards its investments and expansion plans since its inception seven years ago.
Until now, Lyft remained operating limitedly in markets of the United States and Canada, but rumors are there that it has been considering to expand its businesses to Mexico and Australia, which would also increase its spending.
Currently Lyft is valued at $15 billion and in its IPO, company expecting a valuation of between $20 billion and $25 billion.
Lyft will launch its two-week roadshow on March 18 and expected to be ready for an early April entrance at Wall Street.
