Grab delivers first profit in decade in Asia internet bounceback

By Olivia Poh

(Bloomberg) — Grab Holdings Ltd. posted its first-ever profit on adjusted basis, a milestone for the decade-old Southeast Asian ride-hailing and food delivery company trying to convince investors of its earnings potential.

The shares rose 3.1% in New York trading, the most since Aug. 23, after Grab said adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization reached US$29 million in the quarter through September. Analysts expected US$9.5 million on average.

The Singapore-based company has expanded swiftly across Southeast Asia since its founding in 2012, resulting in mounting losses as it spent to attract drivers and users amid intense competition from rivals such as GoTo Group and Sea Ltd. Slowing growth has prompted Grab to focus on profitability and cost control — it said in June it will slash more than 1,000 jobs.

“Trends across Grab’s mobility and delivery segments are showing clear signs of improvement,” Mark Mahaney, an analyst at Evercore ISI, said in a note. “Further acceleration” is expected this quarter, he said.

Revenue rose 61% to US$615 million during the quarter, slowing from triple-digit rates in the years past as customers in the region curb spending to cope with elevated inflation and interest rates. Demand is increasing at a slower pace as Grab’s customer base expands and as consumers are less willing to pay for the convenience of hailing a ride and getting food delivered to their door in a challenging macroeconomic climate.

Profitability, even on adjusted basis, is a big step in Grab’s effort to prove to investors it can make money. While Grab leads Southeast Asia’s ride-hailing and delivery markets, it has yet to reach net income as it’s forced to keep spending to fend off rivals such as Indonesia’s GoTo.

Among Grab’s next targets is positive free cash flow, which it expects to achieve by the end of 2024, Chief Financial Officer Peter Oey said in an interview. Gross merchandise value at Grab’s mobility business, or the total value of goods and services sold, is set to reach pre-pandemic levels by the end of this year, he said.

Grab also said adjusted full-year loss will be US$20 million to US$25 million, smaller than the US$30 million to US$40 million it forecast in August. The number of monthly transacting users on its platform hit an all-time high at 36 million.

Shares of Grab, which had been one of Southeast Asia’s hottest startups, are down about two-thirds since it went public through a US blank-check company in late 2021. Still, they’ve stabilized this year as its losses narrowed, outperforming its main regional rivals.

Grab said in June it’s cutting more than 1,000 jobs in its biggest round of layoffs since the pandemic, in a sign of growing pressure from investors for the company to slash expenses further. Rivals Sea and GoTo eliminated thousands of jobs last year. Grab has also added products such as subscriptions to its ride and delivery services to attract more users.

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