Grab reports strong Q1 2021 as it moves towards US listing via SPAC

Grab Holdings Inc, Southeast Asia’s top superapp, announced that its adjusted net sales in the first quarter of this year reached an all-time high of $507 million, a 39% year-on-year growth.

Revenue presented in accordance with IFRS was $216 million, also a record for Grab, while quarterly Adjusted EBITDA improved by $233 million year-on-year.

“We exceeded our internal targets for Adjusted Net Sales and Adjusted EBITDA for Q1 2021, and continued the strong growth momentum of our deliveries business,” said Peter Oey, Chief Financial Officer of Grab.

“We saw robust topline growth, even compared to the first quarter of 2020 that saw limited impact from COVID-19, and took strides towards profitability,” he added.

Grab and Altimeter Growth also filed with the US SEC a draft registration statement in connection with their recently announced proposed business combination, which will see Grab listing in the US.

“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.

“As we prepare to become a listed company, we’re sharing our first-ever quarterly financial results and we continue to deliver strong growth, despite the ongoing impact of COVID-19,” he added.

In Q1 2021, Grab was the most downloaded app and had the highest number of average smartphone monthly active users in Southeast Asia for the mobility and delivery category, according to App Annie. This is across both iOS and Google Play combined.

During the said quarter, Gross Merchandise Value (GMV) grew 5% year on year to reach $3.6 billion. Deliveries GMV demonstrated strong year-on-year growth of 49%, offset by weakness in mobility as a result of the lockdowns and other restrictions imposed by governments on the back
of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Adjusted Net Sales reached an all-time high of $507 million, up 39% year on year while revenue achieved a record $216 million. Grab also achieved its strongest quarter for Adjusted EBITDA at $(111) million, which improved by $233 million year-on-year.

As of March 31, 2021, Grab had $4.9 billion of cash and cash equivalents, an increase of $1.4 billion from $3.5 billion as of December 31, 2020. Total outstanding debt as of March 31, 2021 was $2.1 billion, a $1.9 billion increase from the $212 million balance as of December 31, 2020, primarily due to the closing of its Term Loan B Facility in January 2021 of $2.0 billion.