Nasdaq-listed superapp Grab posted its strongest quarter on record in Q4 2024, with revenue increasing 17% year-over-year to $764 million, according to a statement.
The Southeast Asia tech giant booked a profit of $11 million for the quarter, lower than $15 million in July-September (Q3) 2024. Its adjusted EBITDA improved by $61 million year-over-year to an all-time high of $97 million.
Grab bounced back to profit in Q3 from a $68-million loss in Q2 and a $99-million shortfall a year earlier. It booked its first-ever quarterly profit in Q4 2023 but slipped back into the red in the first two quarters of last year.
“The fourth quarter was our strongest quarter ever,” said Anthony Tan, Grab’s Group chief executive officer and co-founder. “We have more users on our platform than ever, and our unique platform advantages place us in a strong position to continue this growth momentum into 2025.”
In the Oct-Dec quarter, Grab said on-demand gross merchandise value (GMV) grew 20% to $5 billion. At the same time, monthly transacting users (MTUs) climbed to 44 million, marking the seventh consecutive quarter of sequential growth.
Product initiatives introduced in 2024 to enhance the affordability and reliability of Grab’s on-demand services drove a record number of users transacting on the platform, the company said.
For the full year 2024, Grab reported a loss of $158 million, a 67% improvement from $485 million a year earlier, driven by higher Group Adjusted EBITDA, lower restructuring costs, and reduced share-based compensation expenses.
Grab’s full-year revenue increased 19% to $2.8 billion, exceeding the company’s guidance. Adjusted EBITDA also turned positive at $313 million, hitting the upper end of the projected range, while adjusted free cash flow stood at $136 million.
“The strong top-line growth, coupled with ongoing cost discipline across our business units, have enabled us to continue scaling the platform in a profitable manner,” said Tan.
Gross and net cash liquidity remained stable at $6.1 billion and $5.8 billion respectively at the end of the fourth quarter, Grab said.
The superapp expects full-year 2025 revenue to range between $3.33 billion and $3.40 billion, reflecting year-over-year growth of 19% to 22% on a constant currency basis. The company’s revenue forecast for fiscal 2025 is, however, below the analysts’ average estimate of $3.4 billion, Reuters reported, citing data compiled by LSEG.
The company also forecasts adjusted EBITDA of $440 million to $470 million, representing a 41% to 50% increase from the previous year.
Grab Chief Financial Officer Peter Oey said the company expects to sustain year-over-year growth momentum in its On-Demand gross merchandise value (GMV) in 2025, building on gains from previous quarters.
He cautioned, however, that currency fluctuations in Southeast Asia could impact reported figures and urged investors to evaluate GMV and revenue growth on a constant currency basis.
Grab’s deliveries segment posted strong Q4 growth, driven by product and technology enhancements that improved affordability and reliability, said president and chief operating officer Alex Hungate.
Deliveries revenue surged to $407 million in Q4 from $362 million in Q3 and up 13% YoY. Deliveries GMV also grew by 19% YoY to $3.2 billion in Q4 2023.
Segment adjusted EBITDA as a percentage of GMV expanded to 1.8% in Q4 to $57 million, from 2.1% in the same period last year.
Saver Deliveries accounted for a third of total transactions, up from 23% a year earlier. Priority Deliveries also expanded to 9% of total transactions from 6% a year earlier, with revenue margins 1.7 times higher than Standard Deliveries.
“As we look ahead to 2025, it is important to note that our Deliveries business is susceptible to seasonal trends,” Hungate said. “Nonetheless, we do expect to build on our growth momentum in 2024 and generate strong Deliveries growth rates in 2025.”
Mobility revenue, meanwhile, surged 17% year-on-year to $282 million from $237 million a year earlier. GMV in the segment increased by 22% from a year earlier to $1.83 billion, with all markets recording positive growth, the company said.
During the quarter, the company announced a regional partnership to deploy up to 50,000 BYD electric vehicles (EVs) to its driver-partners, aiming to lower financial barriers to EV adoption and enhance sustainability efforts.
“We remain confident in the long-term growth trajectory of our Mobility business, as we harness technological and product innovations to improve reliability and value at the same time,” Hungate said.
Its financial services segment also posted a 36% year-over-year increase in revenue to $74 million, driven by lending growth across GrabFin and its digital banks.
Total loans disbursed grew 44% year-over-year to $639 million in the quarter, bringing full-year loan disbursements to $2.2 billion, up 46% from 2023. The total loan portfolio expanded 64% year-over-year to $536 million, while 90-day non-performing loans remained stable at 2%.
Grab said it plans to expand its FlexiLoan offerings in Singapore, Malaysia, and Indonesia in 2025 while launching new services for MSMEs.
Cash liquidity
Grab’s gross and net cash liquidity remained stable at $6.1 billion and $5.8 billion, respectively, at the end of the fourth quarter.
Excluding customer deposits from its digital banking business and adding back the loan portfolio from its Financial Services segment, net cash liquidity stood at $5.1 billion, unchanged year-over-year.
The company also repurchased an additional 10.2 million Class A ordinary shares in the fourth quarter for a total of $37.1 million. As of December 31, 2024, Grab had cumulatively repurchased and retired 67 million Class A ordinary shares worth $226 million.
Operating profit for the quarter was $2 million, an improvement of $48 million from negative $46 million in the prior year period, with the improvement mainly attributed to higher Group Adjusted EBITDA and lower share-based compensation expenses by $17 million year-over-year.
Net cash from operating activities was $253 million during the fourth quarter, an improvement of $279 million from a year earlier, including a $208 million increase in customer deposits.
Oey said the company expects GMV and revenue growth to soften in the first quarter of 2025 due to the Lunar New Year and Ramadan fasting period occurring in the same quarter, unlike previous years when Ramadan fell in the second quarter. However, he anticipates a sharp recovery in the second quarter of the year.
“We will continue to uphold ourselves to the highest standard to deliver the best products and services to our consumers, drivers and merchant partners in the year ahead,” Oey said.
