Venugopal Garre

Venugopal Garre inquired about the Grab Mart (grocery) business, asking which geographic regions are driving its growth, what initiatives are needed to scale it further given its low penetration of the overall TAM, and thoughts on new models like Quick Commerce. He also asked about the nature of Grab's investments in autonomous tech companies (securing tech vs. financial) and the current progress of autonomous vehicle rollout.

Answer

President and COO Alex Hungate confirmed Grab Mart is growing across all markets, driven by the 'Grab More' feature allowing grocery add-ons to food orders, and noted that Mart users have 1.8 times higher order frequencies. He mentioned experimenting with Quick Commerce models in Malaysia (with Jaya Grocer) and Indonesia to unlock more TAM. CEO Anthony Tan explained that AV investments are deliberate, part of a long-term strategy to lead AV adoption in Southeast Asia and secure the tech supply chain through partnerships like WeRide. He acknowledged a longer ramp-up for mainstream AV adoption in Southeast Asia due to lower labor costs and the need for AVs to become safer and cheaper than human drivers. Grab plans a hybrid fleet approach, collaborating with regulators to upskill driver partners for new roles like remote safety drivers or data labelers.

Venugopal Garre asked about the GrabMart grocery business, seeking insights into its growth drivers, key geographic regions, and initiatives to scale it into a larger segment, including thoughts on new models like Quick Commerce. Venugopal Garre also followed up on Grab's autonomous tech investments, questioning their nature (tech vs. financial) and the current progress of autonomous vehicle rollout.

Answer

President and COO Alex Hungate confirmed GrabMart is growing across all markets, driven by features like 'Grab More' for cross-selling groceries with food orders. He noted GrabMart users have 1.8 times higher order frequencies than food-only users and mentioned experiments with Quick Commerce in Malaysia (Jaya Grocer) and Indonesia to unlock more TAM. CEO Anthony Tan explained that AV investments are deliberate, part of a long-term strategy to lead AV adoption in Southeast Asia and secure the tech supply chain. He anticipates a longer ramp-up due to labor costs and the need for AVs to become safer and cheaper than human drivers, emphasizing a hybrid fleet approach and upskilling driver partners for new roles.

Venugopal Garre asked for Grab's perspective on industry consolidation in the ASEAN delivery segment, its business performance in Indonesia relative to its closest competitor, and its appetite for inorganic M&A amidst potential macro risks.

Answer

CFO Peter Oey stated that while consolidation is hard to predict, Grab remains focused on organic growth through affordability and wider selection. President and COO Alex Hungate confirmed that Grab outgrew its closest competitor in Indonesia for the second consecutive quarter while also improving profitability there. Regarding M&A, Hungate noted a high bar for deals but highlighted recent successful bolt-on acquisitions like Chope (reservations), Everrise (grocery), and Validus (SME financing) as examples of their strategy to opportunistically add value and capabilities.

Venugopal Garre asked about Grab's guidance philosophy, noting its track record of conservative starts, and questioned its medium-to-long-term capital allocation priorities between autonomous vehicles, M&A, and Digibank expansion.

Answer

CFO Peter Oey confirmed the company's 'beat and raise' guidance philosophy, stating they bake in potential uncertainties like holiday seasonality at the start of the year. CEO Anthony Tan and President & COO Alex Hungate emphasized strong organic growth potential in the core business, a proactive stance on a hybrid AV-human fleet future, and a focus on Indonesia. Peter Oey reiterated a consistent capital allocation framework: prioritizing organic growth first, maintaining a high bar for M&A, and returning excess capital to shareholders.