Grab signals profit focus with cost cuts, but softer demand for deliveries is worrying

COST discipline was a major theme in Grab’s most recent earnings, marking a shift from its cash-burning days.

In an earnings call on Thursday (Aug 25), its management emphasised cost-cutting measures: slower hiring, lower incentives, and an exit from the asset-heavy business of “dark stores” – or delivery-only warehouses – in Singapore, Vietnam and the Philippines.

Chief financial officer Peter Oey sought to assure investors that the company is “very focused” on cost management, adding: “Cash preservation is very much top of mind for us.”