Southeast Asian tech giant Grab Holdings reported a sharp rise in profitability as growth across its mobility, deliveries, and financial services businesses offset higher incentives and a volatile macro backdrop.
Profit for the January to March period rose to $120 million from $10 million a year earlier, despite Q1 being their “seasonally soft” quarter, according to Grab Co-founder and CEO Anthony Tan. Amid turbulence in oil prices during the quarter, revenue increased 24% year-on-year to $955 million.
On-demand gross merchandise value (GMV) grew 24% year-on-year to $6.1 billion, supported by a 16% increase in monthly transacting users to 51.6 million, pointing to sustained demand across its platform.
Adjusted EBITDA rose 46% to $154 million, with margins expanding to 16.2% from 13.7% a year earlier. Total segment adjusted EBITDA reached $268 million.
“We set out to start 2026 strongly, and we delivered,” Tan said. “This was against the backdrop of our seasonally softest quarter, where the Ramadan fasting month and Lunar New Year festivities typically lead to lower demand and supply for our business…These results reflect our consistent and compounding strategy: harnessing tech-led innovation to drive our ecosystem flywheel faster, and to outserve users and everyday entrepreneurs across Southeast Asia.”
Mobility, deliveries drive core performance
The car-hailing business of the group remained the primary earnings engine, with revenue rising 19% year-on-year to $337 million and adjusted EBITDA climbing 24% to $198 million. GMV in the segment grew 23%, supported by higher transaction volumes and a growing driver base.
Deliveries posted revenue of $510 million, up 23% year-on-year, as advertising contributions and transaction growth helped cushion seasonal softness linked to festive periods such as Lunar New Year and Ramadan.
Total incentives stood at $650 million during the quarter, with on-demand incentives rising to 10.5% of GMV. The increase was attributed to higher partner incentives to support driver earnings amid elevated fuel costs.
Fintech grows, but still in the red
Grab’s financial services arm continued to expand, with revenue growing 43% year-on-year to $107 million. Its gross loan portfolio more than doubled to $1.44 billion, reflecting sustained demand for credit across its lending and digital banking businesses.
The segment, however, remained in the red, posting an adjusted EBITDA loss of $17 million, narrowing from a $30 million loss a year earlier.
Amid this, Grab’s chief financial officer Peter Oey reiterated their expectation to achieve Segment Adjusted EBITDA breakeven in the second half of 2026, on improving operating leverage from our growing loan portfolio.
Maintains full-year outlook
Grab maintained its full-year 2026 guidance, expecting revenue of $4.04 billion to $4.10 billion, representing 20–22% growth, and adjusted EBITDA of $700 million to $720 million, implying 40–44% growth.
Oey said the first-quarter performance reflects “consistent execution” and growing operating leverage, positioning the company to deliver on its targets for the year.
The company said it will continue leaning into artificial intelligence to drive more personalised user experiences and unlock new monetisation opportunities, while focusing on sustaining profitability across its ecosystem.
