SINGAPORE's Grab beat Wall Street expectations for first-quarter revenue on Tuesday, benefiting from resilient demand for its ride-hailing and food-delivery services after rolling out promotional offers and bundled features to attract more customers.
Southeast Asia's biggest ride-hailing and delivery firm has been trying to boost spending on its platform by incorporating artificial-intelligence features into its superapp and bundling its core ride-hailing, delivery and financial services.
With oil and gas prices soaring due to the war in the Middle East, the company has also promoted more affordable offerings, including a "saver" option, to woo customers grappling with higher costs of living.
About 35% of its users are on the "saver" program, opting for cheaper deliveries, CFO Peter Oey told Reuters.
"It is a very good balance between the price-sensitive customers and for those who are less price-sensitive. That gives us the levers also to continue to make sure that our margin for our delivery business continues to improve," he said.
Grab's quarterly revenue rose 24% from a year earlier to $955 million, compared with analysts' estimates of $921.1 million, according to data compiled by LSEG.
Deliveries revenue increased 23% to $510 million, while mobility revenue was up 19% at $337 million.
Shares of the company were up 1.6% in extended trading.
On-demand gross merchandise value rose 24% to $6.1 billion, as growth in both mobility and deliveries accelerated despite seasonal softness typically associated with regional festive periods.
Profit came in at $120 million, compared with $10 million a year earlier.
The company faces heavy competition in the Southeast Asian market, with rivals also taking to AI and promotional offers to attract potential customers.
Earlier this year, Grab agreed to buy Delivery Hero's Foodpanda delivery business in Taiwan for $600 million, a major expansion that allows it to capture market share outside its home region. - Reuters
