Japan’s Rakuten Inc stated on Tuesday it expects to take a 103 billion yen ($947 million) loss in the recent quarter on its investment in U.S. ride-hailing company Lyft Inc.
The e-retailer, whose billionaire founder and Chief Executive Hiroshi Mikitani has a seat on Lyft’s board, recorded the charge as Lyft shares had dropped remarkably over the July-September period, it stated in a statement to the Tokyo Stock Exchange.
Rakuten, the biggest shareholder in Lyft with a stake of over 11%, is scheduled to declare financial results on Thursday.
The write-down includes to a 28.4 billion yen unrealized loss on Rakuten’s Lyft stake for the April-June quarter, with the ride-hailing service locked in a money-burning price battle with more popular competitor Uber Inc in the United States.
At its own earnings presentation previous week, Lyft stated a growing number of consumers were now paying full price for rides, and the improved outlook revealed it was on track to be profitable by the end of 2021.
Still, the stock has lost no less than 40% of its value since the company’s first public offering in March.
