Grab CEO: “COVID-19 is the biggest crisis affecting the company in the past 8 years”
The COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant impact on Grab’s business, forcing the company to cut costs and make necessary adjustments, CEO Anthony Tan said.
Grab co-founder and CEO Anthony Tan said the novel coronavirus is creating significant challenges for Southeast Asia’s largest ride-hailing startup, with the company facing difficult decisions on cost cutting and capital management.
“COVID-19 is the biggest crisis to affect Grab in its eight years of operation,” Tan said in a message to investors and partners on April 20.“It has caused unprecedented impacts on our business and the work of our partners.”
In addition to ride-hailing, the Singapore-based startup has expanded into food delivery and other services. In February, the company raised more than $850 million to boost financial services in the region.
However, Grab’s ride-hailing business has been hit hard as many cities in Southeast Asia have implemented lockdowns or social distancing measures.
Grab is trying to offset some of the losses by ramping up its food delivery service, which has seen demand surge as people stay home.
“We have to make tough decisions, even trade-offs, after assessing the impact of the pandemic on our business,” Grab CEO said.“We will adjust our costs, manage our capital effectively and make the necessary changes to help the company weather this storm and move towards profitability.”
Previously, CEO Anthony Tan told CNBC that his company has enough financial resources to get through the difficult period.
“Grab has a very strong investor base, so we don’t have too many financial problems in the current difficult situation. Whether this crisis lasts 12 or 36 months, we will still overcome it,” he said.