Grab returns to profit in third quarter, raises 2024 revenue forecast

Group-adjusted Ebitda is US$90 million for the quarter, an improvement of 224% year on year

Grab on Tuesday (Nov 12) reported third-quarter earnings that showed it turned back to being profitable in the third quarter, 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 9 analysts which estimated a loss of 27.07 million for net income GAAP.

Shares of U.S.-listed Grab soared more than 12% in after hours trading.

Its revenue grew 17 per cent year on year to US$716 million in the third quarter 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.

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.

“We remain bullish on the long-term growth outlook of Southeast Asia, and are firing on all cylinders to capture the strong user demand trends,” he added.