Singapore-headquartered superapp Grab Holdings, Inc. saw its revenue down 9 percent to $157 million in the third quarter ended Sept 30, 2021 (Q3 2021), as a result of the decline in mobility due to the severe lockdowns in Vietnam.

Loss for the period grew by $366 million to $988 million. The year-on-year increase in losses during the third quarter was driven primarily by non-cash expenses, the ride-hailing and food delivery giant said in a statement on Thursday.

Grab’s Q3 2021 loss includes $748 million in non-cash items. The company said this primarily consists of interest accrued on Grab’s convertible redeemable preference shares, stock-based compensation, and fair value changes on investments. A significant proportion of such non-cash expenses is expected to cease after the business combination.

Gross Merchandise Value (GMV) grew 32 percent on-year to reach $4 billion, a new record for Grab. Deliveries GMV grew 63 percent on-year to reach $2.3 billion, which offset a 30 percent on-year decline in mobility GMV due to lockdowns and movement restrictions in many of our markets caused by COVID-19 and the Delta variant, the company explained.

“We achieved another record quarter in GMV and total payment value (TPV), and saw the average spend per user on our platform increase by 43 percent year-over-year,” Grab Chief Financial Officer Peter Oey said. “As previously guided, mobility and food delivery services were suspended in Vietnam for most of Q3, and six of our core countries in which we operate experienced tighter movement controls.”

“As we head into the fourth quarter we are already seeing mobility demand returning strongly in certain countries. Group Mobility GMV for the first four weeks of the fourth quarter was 26 percent higher compared to the first four weeks of the third quarter,” he added.

“With recovery in sight, and the gradual reopening of economies providing tailwinds to our business, we are doubling down on investments that will help us capture a greater share of the opportunities in front of us and open up new addressable markets for Grab, such as groceries,” said Grab Co-Founder and Group CEO Anthony Tan.

On its public listing process, Grab said its planned business combination with Altimeter Growth Corp., a special purpose acquisition company, continues to progress and is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2021.

Third Quarter 2021 Financial and Operational Highlights

• GMV grew 32 percent year-on-year (YoY) to reach $4.0 billion. Deliveries GMV grew 63 percent YoY to reach $2.3 billion.
• Revenue was $157 million, down 9 percent YoY, as a result of the expected decline in mobility due to the severe lockdowns in Vietnam. Grab’s reported revenue is net of consumer, merchant and driver-partner incentives.
• Adjusted EBITDA of $(212) million was down by $85 million YoY and up by $2 million QoQ. Adjusted EBITDA margins at (5.3 percent) of GMV remained consistent with the previous quarter at (5.5 percent). Adjusted EBITDA in Q3 2021 was negatively impacted by a drop in mobility, which has been segment Adjusted EBITDA positive since Q4 2019, as well as an increase in regional corporate costs as Grab continues to invest in product development and technology investments for the future.
• Loss for the period grew by $366 million to $(988) million. The YoY increase in losses during the third quarter was driven primarily by non-cash expenses. Grab’s Q3 2021 loss includes $748 million in non-cash items.
• Monthly Transacting Users (MTU) declined by 8 percent YoY, as a result of total lockdowns across Vietnam between July and September 2021 which saw both food delivery and ride-hailing services suspended. Normalized for Vietnam, Grab estimates that MTUs would have grown to 24.8 million.
• Average spend per user, defined as GMV per MTU, increased by 43 percent YoY.
• As of Sept 30, 2021, Grab had cash liquidity of $5.2 billion, an increase of $1.5 billion from $3.7 billion as of Dec 31, 2020.

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