WeWork sinks deeper into losses, leases blow out to $920 million

At the same time, the company’s outgoing rent ballooned from $12 million in 2017 to $30 million, while occupancy and infrastructure costs, and administrative expenses doubled to $10 million apiece.

This outpaced in absolute terms the two-fold growth in revenue from membership and service, which increased to $49 million over the same period.

WeWork’s comprehensive loss for the year totalled at $7.2 million. Its losses were $2.9 million in the previous year.

Meanwhile, the company’s future lease commitments blew out to $920 million.

This figure, which is up from $253 million in the previous year to December 2017, is the sum of rent that WeWork has agreed to pay on its Australian portfolio. One-third of the amount is payable in the next five years.

These commitments are not recognised as liabilities for the company, which otherwise booked $100 million in current and non-current “deferred lease liabilities”.

WeWork’s financial records also reveal the local operations’ reliance on a loan from head office.

The parent entity WeWork Companies Inc has provided its Australian arm a loan payable of $63 million but has agreed to “not demand repayment … until [it] has the financial capacity to repay”.

It has also agreed to “provide ongoing financial support to ensure the Consolidated Entity and Company can continue to pay its debts as and when they are due”, the records show.