Key Sentence:
- Grab Holdings – the nifty app founded by tycoon Anthony Tan.
- Expects steady growth in the grocery business after net sales nearly doubled in the first quarter.
Adjusted Grab States Food Stores net sales for shipments for the first quarter ended March increased 96 percent year-on-year to $293 million. The company releases its first quarterly financial report as it prepares to join Altimeter Growth in the fourth quarter of this year.
“We are very confident that the growth momentum will continue,” Demi Yu, Grab’s regional supply manager, told Forbes Asia in a recent interview with Zoom.
With grocery delivery penetration still low in Southeast Asia – 11% versus 21% in China and the United States Yu said there is plenty of room for growth in the region. Consumers are increasingly turning to grocery delivery and online shopping. After staying home following the Covid-19 outbreak last year as the government imposed travel restrictions and lockdowns to help curb the spread of the pandemic.
“The pandemic has accelerated the growth of the food supply,” Yu said.
Grab added about 600,000 retailers last year, Grab States Food Stores bringing the number of restaurants. Fast-food chains, and grocery retailers on its platform to more than 2 million, Yu said. In addition, around a third of new retailers at Grab have adopted digital technology for the first time. He added.
Growth in food supply helped Grab reduce the group’s net loss to $652 million in the first quarter, from $771 million a year earlier. The gross value of shipments rose 49% to $1.7 billion in the first quarter, nearly half of the group total.
“Consumers in Southeast Asia trust Grab in many ways to meet their daily needs. Said Tang Group CEO in a statement when the company released quarterly results earlier this month. “We are excited about the emerging opportunities we see in food delivery and financial services.”
Tan, 39, has joined a growing list of wealthy Singaporean tech entrepreneurs whose fortunes have soared over the past year. As the pandemic boosts food supply, online shopping, and mobile payments.
Grab’s upcoming US backdoor listing via a merger with Altimeter values the Singapore-based company at nearly $40 billion. Bringing Tan’s net worth to $790 million and number 47 on Singapore’s Rich List, released last week. Tan, a Singaporean citizen and resident, was previously among the wealthiest people in Malaysia. Where he first founded Grab in 2012.