Grab Holdings rebounded from a US$68 million (S$88.24 million) loss in the same period last year with this year’s US$20 million profit. The company’s second quarter (Q2) revenue of US$819 million beat analysts’ expectations of US$811.3 million, Reuters reported, citing LSEG data.
This came as consumer spending rose across its ride-hailing and food delivery services despite global economic uncertainty.
Grab CFO Peter Oey told Reuters that affordability has been key in driving the business’ growth. “What we’re seeing is that the more you make our products more affordable, it drives that growth, and it also shields us from some of the macro that you’re seeing across the globe,” he said.
The company said it’s been working to attract price-sensitive consumers to its ride-hailing service while expanding its driver pool to meet rising demand.
The company also highlighted strong growth in Indonesia, a market it once called underpenetrated, and is looking to tap into the country’s large population to expand its share.
Mr Oey said Indonesia is already profitable and that the company plans to double down on investing there. When Reuters asked about the company acquiring smaller Indonesian rival GoTo, Mr Oey reiterated it is not in discussions with the latter.
In a stock exchange filing in early June, Grab denied media reports of a possible merger with the Indonesian tech firm, stating: “The parties are not involved in any discussions at this time and Grab has not entered into any definitive agreements.” /TISG
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Featured image by Depositphotos (for illustration purposes only)
