By Heather Somerville
SAN FRANCISCO, Aug 23 (Reuters) - Uber Technologies Inc narrowed its losses in the second quarter by 9 percent and boosted its ride bookings, the company said on Wednesday, but is still a long way from profitable.
Uber said its net loss was $645 million, down from $708 million in the first quarter and $991 million in the fourth quarter of last year. The steady shrinking of losses signals Uber's efforts to reign in its massive spending on subsidies and other competitive tactics and it battles rivals in tough markets like South Asia.
Uber said its gross ride bookings for the three-month period reached $8.7 billion, up 17 percent from the previous quarter. The number of global trips on the app increased 150 percent over the previous year.
News site Axios first reported Uber's second-quarter earnings. (Editing by Alistair Bell)