Uber reported strong growth in its third-quarter earnings report on Wednesday, but stumbled on the bottom line after absorbing a $479 million charge for what the company described as undisclosed legal and regulatory matters. The hit to profitability overshadowed a quarter that otherwise marked one of the largest trip-volume increases in the ride-hailing giant’s history.
Uber reported operating income of $1.11 billion for the quarter ended Sept. 30, significantly below the $1.62 billion analysts had expected. CFO Prashanth Mahendra-Rajah attributed the shortfall partly to these legal and regulatory issues during the company’s earnings call, though Uber did not provide specific details about which cases or settlements the charge covered.
The legal expense appeared in Uber’s financial statements as part of “certain legal, tax, and regulatory reserve changes and settlements,” a line item the company uses in calculating adjusted Ebitda. According to Uber’s earnings release, these matters relate to “certain significant legal proceedings or governmental investigations” that have “limited precedent, cover extended historical periods, and are unpredictable in both magnitude and timing.”
Uber did not immediately respond to Fortune’s request for comment.
