Grab on Tuesday (Nov 12) reported third-quarter earnings that showed it turned back to being profitable, and raised its forecast for its full-year 2024 revenue on expectations of strong growth.
It reported profit of US$15 million for the third quarter, a turnaround from a loss of US$99 million the year before. The profit was due to improvements in group-adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (Ebitda), as well as an increase in net finance income and lower share-based compensation expenses, said the company.
That compared against a Bloomberg poll of nine analysts which estimated a loss of US$27.07 million for net income under generally accepted accounting principles.
Shares of US-listed Grab soared more than 12 per cent in after-hours trading.
Its revenue grew 17 per cent year on year to US$716 million in Q3 on growth across all segments, beating estimates of US$696.6 million, per a Bloomberg poll of 18 analysts. It was 20 per cent on a constant currency basis.
“Q3 2024 was a strong quarter for us, as investments we made across the business drove an acceleration of our on-demand GMV (gross merchandise value) growth,” said Grab chief executive Anthony Tan.
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Group-adjusted Ebitda was US$90 million for the quarter, an improvement of 224 per cent year on year compared with US$28 million previously.
“With the strong momentum we are seeing across the business heading into the end of the year, we expect to deliver sequential on-demand GMV growth in the fourth quarter and are raising our full-year 2024 group revenue and group-adjusted Ebitda outlook,” said Tan.
Grab expects its revenue for fiscal year 2024 to be in the range of US$2.76 billion to US$2.78 billion, compared to its previous guidance of US$2.7 billion to US$2.75 billion. The new guidance represents an increase of between 17 and 18 per cent year on year.
“We remain bullish on the long-term growth outlook of South-east Asia, and are firing on all cylinders to capture the strong user demand trends,” he added.
Deliveries revenue for the firm grew 13 per cent year on year, or 16 per cent on a constant currency basis, to US$380 million in Q3 from US$335 million.
