Japan’s Rakuten expects a $947 million loss in U.S. Lyft investment in latest quarter

Japan’s Rakuten expects a $947 million loss in U.S. Lyft investment in latest quarter

Japan’s Rakuten Inc. said on Tuesday that it would be expecting to take a 103 billion yen ($947 million) in losses in the latest quarter over its investment in U.S. ride-hailing firm, Lyft Inc. As of date, Rakuten is the biggest shareholder of Lyft with a stake of more than 11%.

The e-retailer said in a statement that they recorded the charge following Lyft shares “falling significantly” over the July-September period. Rakuten is scheduled to announce financial results on Thursday.

In the April-June quarter, the write-down adds to a 28.4 Billion yen unrealized loss on Rakuten’s Lyft stake amid ride-hailing services locked in a money-burning price war with its competitor Uber Inc.

Lyft said that the numbers of full-paying customers were growing and an improved outlook showed that it would be profitable by the end of 2021.

Still, the company’s stock has lost around 40% of its initial value since its initial public offering last March.