Welcome to the Opening Bell 🔔! Delivered every Monday via email and through the Tech in Asia website, this free newsletter breaks down the biggest stories and latest trends on Asia’s publicly listed tech companies. Get it in your email inbox by registering here.
Hello reader,
Grab (GRAB, NDAQ) CEO Anthony Tan may be forgiven for wondering what more he can do to appease the unforgiving stock market. Grab shares were (finally) on the rise – gaining over 20% in August alone – leading up to its hotly anticipated earnings report.
In fact, there were plenty of positives in the Singapore-based firm’s second-quarter results last week. However, a smaller loss, a massive rise in revenue, a healthy cash position, and a lift in the lower end of its 2022 revenue forecast were not enough to stop Grab shares from plunging 12%.
It appeared that the markets had fixed its gaze on the cut to its gross merchandise volume (GMV) outlook for 2022. The company’s sales pitch for the cut: an increased focus on “high-quality” customers, coupled with the strains of a strong US dollar. The market clearly wasn’t buying it.
Yet, perhaps the super app’s shift in strategy shouldn’t be written off so swiftly, even in current market conditions, which seem to afford short shrift to any unprofitable tech firm that hasn’t posted near-perfect results, regardless of its growth.
Visual story: Grab’s financial health in 9 charts
Our Big Story highlights exactly why Grab’s change in tack should be considered more closely, and how it will likely lead to higher revenues despite the fall in GMV growth rates.
Further, my colleague, Simon, also dissects the potential benefits of Grab’s new subscription program GrabUnlimited, the booming prospects of Grab Financial Services, and why the tech giant shut its dark-store operations in Singapore, Vietnam, and the Philippines in the premium story.
Turning our attention to a profitable company from the city-state: PropertyGuru (PGRU, NYSE). The proptech major posted its first profit as a public firm on the back of a 44% surge in Q2 revenue. Shares of the firm, which has lost 40% in market value since going public in March, inched up nearly 3% on the results.
Meanwhile, Singtel (Z74, SGX), Southeast Asia’s largest telecom firm, reported a 10.7% gain to its underlying net profit in the first quarter despite its operating revenue falling 5.6% during the same period.
But the group’s CEO expects further pressure on “costs and bottom lines” in light of rising inflation and interest rates as well as global supply chain constraints.
— Shravanth
THE BIG STORY
Image credit: Timmy Loen
3 Trends to keep an eye on
2 Eye-popping facts
The ones you didn’t see coming
Stay updated on the go with our mobile app.
Get latest insights with smoother, more personalized experience through TIA mobile app.
