Grab’s Q2 revenue climbs 79%, losses narrow

Southeast Asian super app Grab’s revenue rose 79% to US$321 million in the June quarter, compared with a year ago.

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The firm credited the growth to its fixed cost optimization, shutting down unprofitable business lines, and thinning down incentives. Grab’s net loss for Q2 was US$572 million, narrowing 29% from a year ago.

In the mobility segment, it closed its GrabWheels support operations in Singapore and Malaysia while merging Indonesia’s GrabWheels operations with its car rental business in the archipelago. In deliveries, it shut its dark store operations in Singapore, Vietnam, and the Philippines, choosing to scale deliveries through a third-party marketplace model, with Jaya Grocer being used in Malaysia. The company said it was “refocusing and streamlining” its financial services operations. Overall, it had slowed hiring, streamlined several functions, and reduced overheads, it added.

Grab’s adjusted EBITDA came in at US$233 million, marking an increase from US$214 million in the same quarter last year. This improvement was the result of reduced spending on incentives as a percentage of gross merchandise value (GMV), it stated.

Its GMV rose 30% from a year earlier, with monthly transacting users (MTUs) up 12%. Grab’s average spend per user, calculated as GMV divided by MTU, increased by 16% to US$155.

The mobility segment’s revenue grew 37% and its GMV climbed of 51%. For its financial services segment, revenue went up 94%, with GMV jumping 38%.

Meanwhile, its delivery vertical’s revenue shot up 199% while its GMV rose 19%. This is surprising as demand for food deliveries has slowed as dine-out options have become more popular after Covid-19 lockdowns.

Grab also pulled forward the timelines within which it expects its core food deliveries and overall deliveries to break even to the first and second quarters of 2023, respectively.

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“Looking ahead, we are laser-focused on accelerating our path to profitability.” Grab co-founder and Group CEO Anthony Tan said. He added that the firm would double down on product innovation that increases user engagement and reduces costs while focusing on growing “high-quality transactions” on the platform.