By Sabela Ojea

Shares of Helbiz Inc. on Tuesday jumped in after-hours trading after the company said it is refocusing the group's operations toward micro-mobility and shutting down operations in most of the unprofitable cities it operates.

Shares rose 16% to 13 cents in after-hours trading.

"Going forward, we will no longer pursue licenses in potentially unprofitable cities," Chief Executive Salvatore Palella said on a conference call. He didn't say which cities it would be leaving.

Additionally, the intra-urban transportation company, which supplies and rents e-scooters, e-bikes and e-mopeds, said it is looking for a strategic partner to manage or buy a media business to achieve profitability "as quickly as possible."

The company is also eliminating most positions related to its car-sharing business, Mr. Palella said, without giving any further details on the number of layoffs.

The company had 284 full-time employees as of Tuesday, according to its latest securities filing.

"Since founding, our ambitions have matched the huge market opportunities we see, but as a young company we stretched beyond our resources," Mr. Palella noted.

Helbiz has entered into equity lines of credit and has now the right to sell up to $70 million of shares of common stock, the company added.

In 2022, Helbiz reported a net loss of $82.1 million from a loss of $72.0 million a year earlier, while revenue climbed 21% to $15.5 million.

Write to Sabela Ojea at sabela.ojea@wsj.com; @sabelaojeaguix

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

March 28, 2023 18:39 ET (22:39 GMT)

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