Grab has reduced the red ink and achieved a higher topline in the first quarter this year, as the company reported for the first time its quarterly results ahead of its listing via a SPAC by end of the year.
For the three months ended March, the leading multi-purpose app reported a net loss of US$652 million, versus US$771 million in the red this quarter last year. This number takes into account non-cash items related to interest accrued on Grab’s convertible redeemable preference shares and depreciation.
In the same quarter, its adjusted EBITDA was US$111 million in the red, an improvement by US$233 million y-o-y.
Adjusted net sales, meanwhile, jumped 39% y-o-y to US$507 million, up 39% year on year. Revenue achieved a record US$216 million.
Gross merchandise value in the same quarter was up 5% y-o-y to US$3.6 billion, with growth from deliveries surging by 49% y-o-y while that from rides dropped – an unsurprising pattern given the on-going pandemic.
Following US$2 billion raised from its first senior secured term loan, as of March 31, 2021, Grab had US$4.9 billion of cash and cash equivalents, up US$1.4 billion from US$3.5 billion as of Dec 31, 2020.
“We are pleased with our progress toward becoming a publicly traded company, which we expect to occur in Q4 2021,” said Anthony Tan, group CEO and co-founder of Grab.
“We continue to deliver strong growth, despite the ongoing impact of Covid-19. Southeast Asian consumers trust Grab to meet their everyday needs in a growing number of ways, and we are excited about the emerging growth opportunities we see in our grocery delivery and financial services offerings.”
“We’re pleased by the team’s execution and the growth and resilience of Grab’s diversified business model in Q1,” says Brad Gerstner, founder & CEO of Altimeter Capital, the SPAC to be combined with Grab.
Grab has also announced two new directors to the combined entity’s board: Grab co-founder Tan Hooi Ling and Rich Barton, CEO of Zillow Group. They will join the four existing directors: Anthony Tan, Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi, Ng Shin Ein and Oliver Jay.
