It’s happening already in Singapore, where Uber-analog Grab says lending and deliveries are post-COVID highlights
Singaporean superapp Grab has walked back its 2021 earnings projections, citing COVID unpredictability and rolling government lockdowns across Southeast Asia as the reason for curbing its enthusiasm regarding future financial performance. Grab bought out Uber’s operations in Singapore and has since expanded into e-commerce, payments, and financial services. In its Q2 2021 earnings announcement the company declared announced its 2021 projected post gross merchandise value – a measure of all the product it shifts rather than actual revenue – is now forecast to fall between US$15 billion and US$15.5 billion, down from the $US16.7 billion projected in April. Projected adjusted net sales for 2021 got a haircut too – from US$2.3 billion to between US$2.1 billion and US$2.2 billion. Adjusted EBITDA was reset to a range of -$900 million to -$700 million instead of -US$600 million. Meanwhile, net loss shot up from US$718 million in 2020 to US$815 million. “To give you more context on the COVID situation here in Southeast Asia – the Delta variant has hit the region hard,” said Grab CEO Anthony Tan on the company’s Q2 earnings call, reminding his audience that lockdown measures are still in place across major cities in the region.
