Connect with us

Published

on

Signages at the Grab Holdings Ltd. headquarters in Singapore, on Sunday, Aug. 20, 2023. Grab released earnings results on Aug. 23. Photographer: Ore Huiying/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Ore Huiying | Bloomberg | Getty Images

Singapore-based Grab said on Wednesday that its ride-hailing unit is on track to hit pre-Covid levels by the end of this year.

In its second-quarter earnings release, Grab reported that its mobility gross merchandise value for the quarter was $1.32 billion, a 28% increase from $1.03 billion in the same period a year ago. Grab, which also offers food delivery and mobile payments, said that its mobility GMV has recovered to 85% of pre-Covid levels.

“International traveler demand continues to recover. We increased airport rides by 64% year on year to reach 77% of pre-Covid levels,” COO Alex Hungate said during an earnings call Wednesday.

“Domestic demand also further normalized across our markets with mobility GMV now 85% of pre-Covid levels. When we compare mobility GMV levels between second quarter 2023 and the same period in 2019, several of our core markets such as Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand have either reached or surpassed these levels,” said Hungate.

Pandemic lockdowns and restrictions hit Grab’s ride-hailing business. In the third quarter of 2021, its mobility business fell behind its deliveries unit, recording $88 million in revenue for a 26% year-over-year decrease while the latter’s revenue soared 58%. Singapore lifted most of its Covid-19 restrictions in April 2022 and all remaining pandemic-era border measures in February this year.

We remain on track to exit 2023 at pre-Covid GMV levels.

Peter Oey

CFO, Grab

In February, Grab CFO Peter Oey told CNBC the company has “seen a lot more traffic” as people head back to offices and resume travel.

“We remain on track to exit 2023 at pre-Covid GMV levels,” Oey said during Grab’s earnings call on Wednesday.

At the start of 2023, Grab also resumed GrabShare — its car-pooling service which was suspended during the pandemic.

“GMV growth was attributed to the growth in mobility and deliveries GMV, and group monthly transacting users,” Sachin Mittal, head of telecom, media and technology research at DBS Bank, said in a note.

Deliveries GMV grew 4% year on year due to an expanding subscriber base for GrabUnlimited, a monthly subscription plan that offers users discounts and deals.

DBS said Grab is fully valued and that “we do not see a big room for margin upliftment in the long-term.”

Grab’s Hungate said driver supply levels are currently at 84% of pre-Covid levels and that the firm will “continue to focus on improving driver supply.” Singapore has faced a shortage of drivers since the pandemic, resulting in higher fares and longer waiting times.

In July, Grab said it would acquire Trans-cab to grow its driver base and digitize Trans-cab’s fleet operations. Trans-cab is Singapore’s third largest taxi operator and has a combined fleet of more than 2,500 vehicles. The deal is expected to be completed by the fourth quarter.

“The company flexed its competitive strength this quarter by acquiring Trans-cab. We believe the acquisition provides inroads to car leasing and expands the fleet for Grab, which should further bolster its mobility services in Singapore,” Kai Wang, senior equity analyst at Morningstar Asia, said in a Aug. 24 report.

Pulls forward profitability timeline

On Wednesday, Grab posted revenue and net loss figures that beat estimates. Revenue for the second quarter was $567 million, up 77% from a year ago. Its net loss was $135 million, an improvement of 75.3% from the $547 million logged in the second quarter of 2022.

Grab’s U.S.-listed shares closed 10.78% higher on Wednesday.

“Overall, it is quite a positive set of numbers,” said Jonathan Woo, senior research analyst at Phillip Securities Research.

“At least there is some end in sight for profitability. We think that Grab could turn a net profit as soon as early 2025 if costs continue to improve,” said Woo.

DBS Bank says it wasn't positive on Singapore-based Grab, but it's 'more comfortable' now

Grab is largely unprofitable, amassing billions of dollars in losses since its inception. But on Wednesday, Grab pushed forward its breakeven target to the third quarter. It previously forecast it would hit break even in the fourth quarter. For 2023, Grab expects revenue between $2.2 billion and $2.3 billion.

Over the past few months, Grab cut costs in response to macroeconomic headwinds, reducing customer incentives and discretionary spending, as well as conducting mass layoffs. Other regional tech giants like Sea and GoTo similarly slashed costs through methods such as mass layoffs and freezing salaries.

In June, Grab announced it would cut over 1,000 jobs in order to “adapt to the environment” and a higher cost of capital. It was the group’s largest round of layoffs since 2020, when it laid off 360 employees in the face of pandemic challenges.

Continue Reading

Technology

OpenAI’s shakeup plan gets SoftBank’s nod — all eyes now on Microsoft

Published

on

By

OpenAI's shakeup plan gets SoftBank's nod — all eyes now on Microsoft

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman speaks next to SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son after U.S. President Donald Trump delivered remarks on AI infrastructure at the Roosevelt Room in the White House in Washington on Jan. 21, 2025.

Carlos Barria | Reuters

OpenAI said last week that it would restructure in a format that allows its non-profit entity to retain ultimate control, a plan that on Tuesday received the blessing of one of the U.S. artificial intelligence startup’s biggest backers — Japanese giant SoftBank.

The endorsement of SoftBank — the first time the company has publicly green lit the plan — is key because the Japanese firm’s $30 billion investment in OpenAI announced this year was contingent on a change in structure.

In March, OpenAI closed a $40 billion funding round, receiving $30 billion from SoftBank. But if OpenAI doesn’t restructure into a for-profit entity by Dec. 31, SoftBank has previously said it could reduce its portion of the financing to $20 billion.

OpenAI announced this month that it would not fully turn into a for-profit entity after pressure from civic leaders and former employees. Instead, the non-profit arm would retain control of the company, while the limited liability company, which handles all of the business operations, would turn into a public benefit corporation. That means this division will have the ability to generate profit, but will also focus on social good.

The AI startup was originally looking to remove the control of the non-profit, a plan that drew criticism from many in the tech space, including rival and initial OpenAI co-founder Elon Musk.

Since the non-profit would retain control, and the original restructure plan was ditched, it was unclear if OpenAI’s major investors were on board.

But SoftBank’s finance chief Yoshimitsu Goto said during an earnings press conference on Tuesday that “nothing has really changed.”

“I don’t think that’s the wrong direction … that’s something that we expected,” Goto said, according to a company translation of his comments in Japanese.

He reiterated that OpenAI needs to complete the restructure by the end of this year.

There could still be stumbling blocks along the way. Microsoft, one of OpenAI’s biggest investors, has not approved the restructure, according to a Bloomberg report earlier this month. The Financial Times on Sunday reported that OpenAI and Microsoft are rewriting the terms of their multibillion-dollar partnership. Microsoft is the key holdout to OpenAI’s restructure plan, the FT added.

SoftBank’s Goto did not mention any other companies, but acknowledged that OpenAI has many stakeholders.

“Our conversation is based on the assumption that the reorganization will take place. There are different staekholders however and some people may intervene in this project and this may not go as smooth as we hope,” Goto said.

“But that’s out of our control. We will wait and see what happens.”

Continue Reading

Technology

Dubai government to accept crypto payments through Crypto.com partnership

Published

on

By

Dubai government to accept crypto payments through Crypto.com partnership

Crypto.com logo displayed on a phone screen with representation of cryptocurrencies.

Nurphoto | Nurphoto | Getty Images

Dubai’s Department of Finance announced a partnership with crypto platform Crypto.com that will allow government service fees to be paid with cryptocurrencies.

The memorandum of understanding between Dubai government officials and Mohammed Al Hakim, president of Crypto.com UAE, was signed Monday on the sidelines of the Dubai FinTech Summit.

Government officials said in a press release that the partnership will help achieve the “Dubai Cashless Strategy,” which seeks to solidify Dubai’s status as a leading digital city. The strategy aims to reach 90% cashless transactions across Dubai’s public and private sectors by 2026.

Once technical arrangements for the initiative are finalized, individuals and “businesses customers of government entities” will be able to pay service fees through digital wallets on Crypto.com.  

“The platform will securely convert these payments into Emirati dirhams and transfer them to Dubai Finance accounts, ensuring a streamlined, secure, and innovative payment framework,” Dubai Finance added. 

Bitcoin retreats as U.S. and China agree to pause some tariffs: CNBC Crypto World

Crypto.com’s Al Hakim called the initiative a “truly global first programme.” However, the announcement did not clarify what types of digital currencies the department of finance would accept, or for which types of government fees covered by the agreement. 

Crypto.com and Dubai Finance did not immediately respond to a request for comment from CNBC. 

Crypto.com first received a license for its Dubai entity to offer regulated virtual asset service activities in 2023. Last month, the company said Dubai’s virtual asset regulatory body had also issued a limited license to offer derivatives.

Dubai has been betting on the crypto industry for years as part of its ambition to become a global tech hub. 

Continue Reading

Technology

SoftBank Vision Funds swing to annual loss as investment gains slow by 40%

Published

on

By

SoftBank Vision Funds swing to annual loss as investment gains slow by 40%

SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son delivers remarks next to U.S. President Donald Trump at an ‘Investing in America’ event in Washington, D.C., U.S., April 30, 2025.

Leah Millis | Reuters

Softbank‘s Vision Fund business on Tuesday posted a loss in the fiscal year ended March as it booked slowing gains at its massive tech investment arm.

SoftBank said it notched a gain on investment at its Vision Funds of 434.9 billion yen in the fiscal year, a 40% fall from the 724.3 billion yen booked in the previous year.

In its fiscal fourth quarter — the three months ended March — SoftBank’s Vision Funds segment recorded a 26.1 billion yen gain, helped by a rise in the value of TikTok owner ByteDance.

The Vision Fund segment overall logged a pretax loss of 115.02 billion yen ($777.7 mllion) versus a profit of 128.2 billion yen in the previous fiscal year.

For the latest fiscal year, SoftBank saw gains on its investments in Chinese ridehailing company Didi as well as South Korean e-commerce firm Coupang. However, the performance of its investment arm was hurt by a drop in value of companies including AutoStore.

The Vision Funds are a key focus for investors who are looking for signs of improvement at SoftBank’s huge investment arm, after it swung to a surprise loss in the company’s fiscal third quarter.

SoftBank’s investment division can be inconsistent, as it is driven by changes in public and private financial markets.

SoftBank’s stock is down about 17% this year as volatility in financial markets and concerns about the macroeconomic environment continues to weigh on the company.

SoftBank hits back at Stargate funding report

SoftBank founder Masayoshi Son has sought to position company as a key player in artificial intelligence through various investments and acquisitions. The firm owns the majority of semiconductor designer Arm and announced plans this year to acquire server chip designer Ampere Computing for $6.5 billion. Ampere’s semiconductors are designed to run AI applications.

One of SoftBank’s biggest AI bets has been on OpenAI, the creator of ChatGPT. SoftBank invested $30 billion in OpenAI as part of a broader $40 billion financing round in March that valued the startup at $300 billion.

Softbank is also involved in Stargate, a joint venture that was unveiled by U.S. President Donald Trump in January, calling for hundreds of billions of dollars of investment into AI infrastructure.

There are still questions about how SoftBank plans to finance these ventures and whether it will need to sell down some of its holdings in companies like Arm.

Citing people familiar with the matter, Bloomberg had on Monday reported that dozens of financial players are reassessing investment in data centers due to growing economic volatility, and SoftBank has yet to come up with a financing template for Stargate.

Yoshimitsu Goto, chief finance officer at SoftBank, said during a Tuesday press conference that media reports of banks hesitating to fund SoftBank’s efforts are not true.

“We are very much making progress,” Goto said.

He added there are around 100 proposals being made for sites to build data centers as part of Stargate, with the first facilities likely to be in Texas.

SoftBank swings to profit

SoftBank posted its first annual profit in four years at 1.15 trillion yen.

While the Vision Fund was an overall drag on profit, it was a big gain in SoftBank’s older investments in Alibaba, T-Mobile and Deutsche Telekom, that helped drive its overall profit.

Arm and SoftBank’s telecommunications business also contributed positively to the group’s overall profitability.

Continue Reading

Trending