SG Morning Highlights: Grab narrows Q2 loss to US$547m with record-high revenue, exits dark stores

Advancers / Decliners is 103 to 36, with 145.74 million securities worth S$92.34 million changing hands.

Mortgage rates in the US surged to the highest since June, turning up the pressure in a housing market where demand has fallen sharply from its pandemic-era peak.

The average for a 30-year loan rose to 5.55 per cent from 5.13 per cent last week, Freddie Mac said in a statement on Thursday (Aug 25). Aside from a week in mid-June when the rate increased by 55 basis points, the latest surge is the steepest since 2013.

Rates tracked a jump in yields for 10-year Treasuries, which this week topped 3 per cent for the first time in a month. Investors are bracing for the next move by the Federal Reserve, which has been raising its benchmark interest rate in an effort to tame the hottest inflation in decades.

Applications for US unemployment insurance fell for the second week, suggesting that employers are holding on to workers despite growing economic uncertainty.

Initial unemployment claims decreased by 2,000 to 243,000 in the week ended Aug 20, Labor Department data showed on Thursday (Aug 26). The median estimate in a Bloomberg survey of economists called for 252,000 new applications.

Continuing claims for state benefits fell to 1.42 million in the week ended Aug 13.

Strong ride-hailing recovery narrowed the net loss for South-east Asian tech giant Grab to US$547 million for the second quarter ended June, compared to the year-ago loss of US$768 million.

The New York-listed company has also slashed costs, with reduced incentives and the closure of its delivery-only warehouses, or "dark stores", in 3 markets.

Revenue for the quarter surged 79 per cent to hit an all-time high of US$321 million, including contributions from its recently-acquired Malaysian retail chain Jaya Grocer. This came on the back of a 30 per cent growth in gross merchandise value (GMV) to US$5.1 billion, driven by a recovery in the mobility business and continued growth in on-demand delivery.

This brought net profit for the quarter to RM612.1 million, from RM483.3 million in the same period last year.

Stripping out the effect from the application of Turkey's reporting framework, net profit is 17 per cent higher at RM566.2 million, said the group in a bourse filing on Thursday (Aug 25).

Revenue for the full year ended Jun 30 came in at S$514.6 million, a 12 per cent increase from S$461.4 million a year ago, Wing Tai announced in a bourse filing.

Earnings per share for FY2022 was 16.6 cents, compared to 3.99 cents in FY2021.

In a bourse filing after market hours, the company said Ong will take on his new role from Sep 5. He will assist the group chief executive officer in managing the group's operations and in executing its strategic plans.

Ong was last chief executive officer at Suntory Garuda Beverage Indonesia, and has also held positions in Procter & Gamble previously.