On Thursday (31 July), Grab released their Q2 2025 results. The top-line and bottom-line growth were both steady in the quarter.
Group MTUs (monthly transacting users) reached 46.2 million while revenue rose to US$819 million, a 23% increase YoY. On-demand (which includes Mobility and Deliveries) GMV rose to US$5.35 billion, up 21% YoY. Adjusted EBITDA grew consecutively for 14 quarters to US$109 million. The company has also recorded a profit of $20 million, double that of Q1 2025.
These results are not a surprise to analysts and investors – Grab’s share prices actually dipped during the first trading day after the earnings release, amid Trump’s announcement of new tariff rates for many major trading partners.
Some thoughts:
1. Grab’s bet on affordability appears to be paying off. Saver (i.e. trading speed for savings as compared to standard option) now accounts for about one-third of Mobility transactions, while Saver Deliveries makes up 34% of deliveries transactions. We described Grab’s service laddering strategy in our Food delivery platforms in Southeast Asia 5.0 report: using tiered offerings and group orders to grow the user base, while driving retention through subscriptions and financial services.
2. Grab’s advertising business seems to be growing healthily. The number of quarterly active advertisers (QAA?) on its “self-serve platform” grew 31% YoY, while average spend per advertiser rose 42%. In the earnings call, the management framed advertising as part of the “combined opportunity” with “the margin of the business“. Grab seems to be building the foundations of a retail media network — serving as both an advertising and sales channel for (FMCG) brands and merchants across Southeast Asia.
3. This is in a way similar to many discussions we’ve had with brands about Live Commerce in Southeast Asia. Some established brands are debating internally whether investments in live commerce should be part of the marketing or channel budget. It should be both.
4. While we do not see aggressive quick commerce war in Southeast Asia yet (expensive and brutal in China), players are now circling back to the sector. Grabmart grew faster than the overall Deliveries segment. Of course, coming from a low base of 10% of overall deliveries GMV, Grabmart should still have a lot of growth upside. Online penetration at Jaya Grocer, Grab’s acquired supermarket chain in Malaysia, is nearing 15%. In comparison, Alibaba’s Freshippo and Walmart’s Sam’s Club in China are at 50%.
5. Grab has also acquired Everrise, a Malaysian supermarket chain focused on East Malaysia. Would Grab use its massive cash reserve for more acquisitions? Well-managed supermarkets are good assets in Southeast Asia, and play well into Grab’s future strategy in deeper retail penetration.
6. At the end of the quarter, Grab had US$5.7 billion in net cash liquidity (ie: cash, time deposits, and investments, minus loans and borrowings), bolstered by its recent US$1.5 billion convertible notes raise. With the company now profitable, the question is: how would they use this capital effectively moving forward?
7. In financial services, it is notable that Grab’s loan book grew 78% YoY to US$708 million. On the other hand, Monee (the digital financial service arm of Sea Group), has a loan book of US$5.8 billion in Q1 2025. Clearly, Grab should still have lots of headroom for growth here. We have recently shared some thoughts on this with The Economist.
8. Grab has also actively been trying to address mobility supply shortage in Singapore, one of its key markets. We just wrote a commentary on The Straits Times about the rationale behind GrabCab. The country has recently signalled support for robo-taxi, and Grab should be a good contender for this service. Its recent launch of an autonomous electric shuttle bus is preparing the team and wider public for an actual use case.
9. Will there be new competition? In their earnings call, Grab positioned themselves as “about 3x – 3.5x larger than our next largest competitor in the region”, but they still need to constantly remain alert for emerging challengers. Examples include Bolt in Thailand and Xanh SM in Vietnam. But perhaps the most interesting question is whether Meituan’s Keeta will enter Southeast Asia in the next 18 – 36 months.
The post Our thoughts on Grab’s 2025 Q2 results first appeared on The Low Down - Momentum Works.
