SHORT-TERM home rental company Airbnb Inc’s quarterly revenue plunged 67% as fewer people travelled due to the Covid-19 pandemic, but its plans for a stock market debut before year’s end are still on, Bloomberg reported, citing people familiar with the matter.
Revenue fell to US$335 mil (RM1.4 bil) in the second quarter ended June 30, from more than US$1 bil last year, the report here said today, adding that loss before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation came in at US$400 mil.
The company showed some signs of recovery towards the end of the quarter, with bookings down 30% in June from a year earlier, compared with a 70% decline in May year over year, according to the report.
Airbnb declined to comment.
The company’s plans to go public, one of the highly awaited stock listings this year, come at a time when its home-rental business has been hit hard by the pandemic, which has forced millions of people to postpone their travel plans.
Airbnb is close to confidentially filing paperwork for an initial public offering (IPO) with the US Securities and Exchange Commission later in August, a media report yesterday said.
Its guests have booked more than 1 million nights globally as of July 8 and a major part of the bookings were for trips that will start on or before Aug 7, the company said in July, adding it hit the one million mark for the first time since March 3.
The company spent US$569 mil on operating activities in the three months to March 31, compared with US$314 mil it brought in from operating activities the year earlier, according to Bloomberg. – Aug 13, 2020, Reuters
