(May 18): Grab Holdings Ltd said on Thursday (May 18) that an early Ramadan weighed on sales at its delivery business, taking the shine off an otherwise positive quarter and sending the Southeast Asian company's shares down 2.5% before the bell.

Total platform sales at Grab's delivery business — its biggest — fell 9% in the March quarter due to the early start of the Ramadan fasting period and the first Chinese New Year without mobility restrictions since the pandemic.

But the company's finance chief, Peter Oey, struck a positive tone for the unit in an interview, saying that he expected "the second half of the year to be stronger for the delivery business."

The Southeast Asian super-app operator has in the few months embarked on a cost-cutting drive, with measures including a slashing of its cloud bill and hiring freeze for some roles. It has also lowered expenditure on consumer and worker incentives.

The lower incentives helped the delivery business triple its revenue to US$275 million (RM1.2 billion), which beat Visible Alpha consensus estimates. Total revenue more than doubled to US$525 million, also above expectations of US$504.3 million.

Revenue at the rideshare business — Grab's second-largest — rose 72% to US$194 million in the March quarter but it missed the US$195.2 million consensus estimate, according to Visible Alpha.

Grab posted a smaller adjusted operating loss of US$66 million in the period, compared with a year-ago loss of US$287 million.

It also narrowed its forecast for annual adjusted operating loss to US$195 million to US$235 million, from US$275 million to US$325 million.