What Indonesia’s fuel price hike could mean for Grab and Gojek

Opening Bell 🔔 is Tech in Asia’s free newsletter that brings you the biggest news and latest trends around Asia’s publicly listed tech companies. [Read from your browser]( Opening Bell🔔 Welcome to the Opening Bell! Delivered every Monday via email and through the Tech in Asia website, this free newsletter breaks down the biggest stories and latest trends on Asia’s publicly listed tech companies. If you’re not a subscriber, get access by [registering here](. --------------------------------------------------------------- Hello {NAME} For many years, I have relied on ride hailers to get from one place to the next. Whether I’m in a rush to conduct an interview or coming back home late after a night out, just a few clicks and a couple of minutes later, my cab from Ola or Uber (UBER, NYSE) would arrive. I blame my (over)reliance on these firms for not learning how to drive sooner. I was fond of ride hailers not only for the convenience but also their relatively affordable rates, especially when the sector was finding its feet in India nearly a decade ago. Nowadays, however, I only use these platforms as a last resort. The push to dole out incentives to users has waned as the industry matured in the peninsula. Ride hailing is no longer seen as affordable as the industry grapples with soaring fuel prices and the effort to keep drivers satisfied. The former is something Indonesians have not had to deal with for the longest time this year, with the archipelago's energy subsidies keeping a lid on fuel prices and, in turn, the country’s inflation rate. But all that changed last week when the government hiked subsidized fuel prices by about 30%, sparking mass protests, with thousands lining the streets of the nation’s major cities. While big companies like Grab (GRAB, NDAQ) and Gojek owner GoTo Group (GOTO, IDX) are not allowed to buy subsidized fuels for their operations, their driver partners do. That poses an important question for these ride hailers: How do they deal with Indonesia’s first hike to subsidized fuel prices in eight years? For starters, the Indonesian Ministry of Transportation has [already hiked]( ride-hailing rates for motorbikes - extensively used for transport - to protect drivers, who are seeking fare adjustment as costs rise. It remains to be seen how users of Grab and Gojek will react to having to absorb these increased prices. However, fare rates for other forms of ride-hailing transport remain up in the air, leaving these lossmaking firms in a precarious position. Grab and Gojek can either bite the bullet and absorb additional costs, likely delaying their dreams of profitability, or bank on consumers’ purchasing power in Southeast Asia’s largest economy by offloading these added costs onto users. Meanwhile, matters aren’t as grim in Vietnam, but a rising challenger threatens to break Grab’s dominance in the region. Be Group, the biggest local rival to Grab and Gojek, has [received a US$60 million loan]( to scale up its platform, which offers on-demand car and bike ride-hailing. A slew of other apps failed to challenge Grab in Vietnam, with none of them gaining much traction. However, Vietnam’s Be is different in that regard, having accumulated over 20 million downloads. Lastly, on all things ride-hailing, Wanshun Car-Hailing will be hoping to have a better ride on the US stock markets than rival DiDi Global did, as the Shenzhen-based company [eyes a public market debut]( in the world’s largest economy through a special purpose acquisition company this year. -- Shravanth  --------------------------------------------------------------- 3 TRENDS TO KEEP AN EYE ON Hot stocks, earnings reports, restructuring, pressure from activist investors, and more. 1️⃣ The moving parts at Sea Group (SE, NYSE): It’s been more than five years since Sea debuted on US markets, but the Singapore-based giant is reportedly set for a shake-up as long-term investor Tencent (0700, HKG) further loosens the cord between the two companies. Tencent COO Mark Ren has [left Sea Group’s board of directors]( last week in what appeared to be the Chinese behemoth’s next step in relinquishing its control over Sea. This follows Tencent’s move to [divest over US$3 billion]( worth of its stock in Sea earlier this year.  See also: [Was Sea’s 22% stock plunge after Q2 results an overreaction?](  Meanwhile, Shopee, Sea’s ecommerce unit, continues to be in the doldrums after [shutting]( local operations in Chile, Colombia and Mexico, and leaving Argentina entirely. It will cut the majority of its teams in these countries. However, its operations in Brazil, where Shopee is a dominant player, will not be affected. This news comes after the ecommerce giant [withdrew a number of job offers]( for positions at its headquarters in Singapore, leading to the formation of two related rights-protection groups, which have over 60 members and over 200 members, respectively. 2️⃣ Alarms bells sounded over fintech proliferation: With bucket loads of fintech firms and digibanks popping up all over Southeast Asia, the lines between these companies and traditional banks are blurring. In an effort to provide a smooth customer experience, banks and tech firms are joining forces in ways that make it more difficult for regulators to distinguish between where the bank ends and where the tech firm starts. And that’s a big red flag, [according]( to Michael Hsu, Acting Comptroller of the Currency, a major US bank regulator. His warnings, however, are likely to fall on deaf ears in Singapore, whose saturated banking market recently saw the launch of new retail-focused digibanks in [GXS Bank]( which is backed by a consortium comprising Grab and Singtel (Z74, SGX), and [Trust Bank]( owned by Standard Chartered (STAN, LSE) and FairPrice Group. [In this premium story]( my colleague, Simon, breaks down their chances of success in the highly competitive space - which is still dominated by brick-and-mortar giants such as DBS Group (DBSM, SGX), and OCBC (OCBC, SGX) - by dissecting their ecosystems and product roadmaps and showing how their regionalization plans hint at the segment of customers they are targeting. 3️⃣ More layoffs are on the way: Singapore-based Foodpanda has [jumped on the downsizing bandwagon]( after letting go of some of its employees in Southeast Asia as its parent firm, Delivery Hero (DHER, ETR), accelerates plans to become EBITDA-positive by cutting costs. However, the food delivery platform didn’t divulge the number of staff terminated nor did it share details about the teams and countries affected by the job cuts. Read more:[Foodpanda grows revenue by 2.5x, but profit is still some distance away]( Meanwhile, SoftBank (9984, TYO) is [planning to slash at least 20%]( of the headcount at its Vision Fund unit. The move will affect both senior and junior employees. The Vision Fund is the world’s largest tech-focused fund, but went through a rough patch as tech valuations were battered around the globe. SoftBank had posted a record quarterly loss of US$23 billion in August, mostly due to the falling valuations of portfolio companies, including Korean ecommerce firm Coupang (CPNG, NYSE) and US food delivery player DoorDash (DASH, NYSE). You can keep track of all the latest news on the job cuts occurring across Asia’s startup ecosystem, both in the public and private sphere, through [Tech in Asia’s layoff tracker](.  --------------------------------------------------------------- 2 EYE-POPPING FACTS Tech in Asia scours the internet to bring you head-turning numbers from the world of business. - [400 million]( - That is the number of WhatsApp users in India - no country uses the messaging service more. Facebook-owner Meta (META, NDAQ) is hoping to leverage this gigantic user base to get into the booming e-grocery space in the country through a collaboration with e-grocery company JioMart, a unit of Reliance Industries (RELI, NSE). - [9.99%]( - While Tencent slowly veers away from Sea Group, the same cannot be said of its plans for Ubisoft (UBI, EPA), the gaming firm behind titles like Assassin’s Creed. China’s most valuable tech company increased its stake in the France-based game developer from 4.5% to 9.99%. This investment comes after Tencent, along with Sony (6758, TYO), recently [bought a 30% stake]( in FromSoftware, famed for creating titles such as Dark Souls and Elden Ring.  --------------------------------------------------------------- THE 1 YOU DIDN'T SEE COMING We spotlight the unusual, not-your-everyday kind of story that has got everyone talking and social media buzzing over the past week. Shopping 1 - Gaming 0, and buckle up, please! Online shopping [has leaped above]( gaming in the list of top activities for Southeast Asian consumers on the internet, according to the annual Sync report from Meta and Bain & Company. Online shopping now ranks fourth – after social media, video streaming, and messaging – while gaming dropped down to fifth. Interestingly, social media is the top discovery channel for products, followed by marketplaces, according to the report, which is based on a survey of around 16,000 digital consumers as well as on interviews with more than 20 executives in Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, and the Philippines. Lastly, I don’t know why someone thought building products to disable seatbelt alarms in cars was a good idea, but here we are. Luckily though, Amazon (AMZN, NDAQ) has [removed]( listings of such products from its Indian marketplace a day after the country's transport minister said he had asked the company to act against such devices. Road safety issues have been the focus of the public eye in India, the world's fourth-largest car market, after Cyrus Mistry, former chairman of the Tata Group, died in a car crash last week, with local media reporting that he wasn't wearing a seat belt.  --------------------------------------------------------------- That’s it for this edition - we hope you liked it! Not your cup of tea? You can unsubscribe from this newsletter by going to our preference center at the bottom of this email. Happy investing and see you next week! Disclaimer: This content is for informational purposes only. Kindly do not construe any such information as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice. [ADVERTISE]( | [SUBSCRIBE]( | [HIRE]( | [FIND JOBS]( P.S. Don't miss out on the biggest tech news and analysis. Add newsletter@techinasia.com to your address book, contacts, or safe sender list. Or simply move us into your inbox. Too many emails? 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