Grab’s Q4 profit falls to $27m but beats analyst estimates

Photo credit: GrabMaps

Nasdaq-listed Grab on February 20 posted a net profit of US$27 million for the fourth quarter ended December. The number was down from US$35 million in the same period the previous year.

The earnings beat estimates of a US$10.3 million profit in a Bloomberg poll of eight analysts.

Revenue for the three months was US$764 million, up 17% on the year from US$653 million. Growth across all segments was behind this increase, according to Grab. It met an estimate of US$757.8 million in a 17-analyst Bloomberg poll.

Earnings per share was US$0.01, unchanged from the previous corresponding period.

The group’s adjusted EBITDA was US$97 million for the quarter, up from US$35 million a year earlier.

Grab’s on-demand gross merchandise value (GMV), group revenue growth, and “improving profitability on a segment adjusted EBITDA basis and lower regional corporate costs” drove the improvement in adjusted EBITDA, said the ride-hailing company.

Regional corporate costs are not attributed to any of the business segments, including certain costs of revenue, research and development expenses, general and administrative expenses, and marketing expenses. They include cloud computing costs.

Regional corporate costs for the quarter were US$87 million, compared with US$100 million in the same period a year earlier.

See also: Grab-GoTo deal buzz returns: why it might be real this time

On-demand GMV – which includes mobility and deliveries – for the quarter grew 20% on the year to US$5 billion, from US$4.2 billion previously. An increase in on-demand monthly transacting users and transactions spurred this growth.

Adjusted free cash flow for the three months was US$61 million, up from US$1 million in the previous corresponding period.

For the full year, the company’s loss for the period narrowed to US$105 million from US$434 million the year before. Revenue rose 18.6% to US$2.8 billion from US$2.4 billion.

“Fourth quarter was our strongest quarter ever,” said Anthony Tan, CEO and co-founder of Grab. “We finished 2024 with on-demand GMV growth accelerating to 20% year on year, and as we continue to generate profitability at scale.”