INTHEBLACK October/November 2024 - Magazine - Page 16
MEMBER PROFILE
“I am a big believer in balanced, sustainable growth
with a level of high profitability in the business, but that
is where most CFOs struggle. How much of your profit
do you allocate to growth? That is the nub of my role.”
PETER OEY FCPA, GRAB HOLDINGS
a grow-at-all costs mentality. In the past
couple of years, we witnessed the more
disciplined companies balance growth and
profitability, setting themselves apart from
those that did not.
Profitability is now a critical value. At
Grab, we have always known that we needed
to get there not long after going public.
Getting profitable does create a level of
freedom for the business, but we also need
to generate more free cash flow, either to be
returned to shareholders or to reinvest to
stimulate growth.
I am a big believer in balanced, sustainable
growth with a level of high profitability in
the business, but that is where most CFOs
struggle. How much of your profit do you
allocate to growth? That is the nub of my role.
GAME CHANGERS
Global vision
Working abroad has been the biggest game
changer for me. I left Australia on two
occasions (in 2000 and in 2006) to work
in London. In 2006, I moved to California,
and in the past five years, I have been
working in Singapore and South-East
Asia. If I were to give one piece of advice
to other up-and-coming CFOs – or even
to my team – it would be to take every
opportunity to go outside your comfort
zone and go abroad.
I have seen how Europe and the US work,
and now I am experiencing the way SouthEast Asia does business. This helps you to
adapt to any situation, it makes you more
flexible at solving problems, and it affects how
broadly you think when making decisions. It
is the result of being subjected to different
cultures, jurisdictions and personalities.
Thomas Tippl, the previous CFO at
Activision Blizzard taught me about the
importance of an operational CFO with
intensity and rigour – one who rolls up their
sleeves and goes deep into the business. I
16 INTHEBLACK October/November 2024
have to nominate his influence as a game
changer too.
Some people resist being pushed, and yet
that is what Thomas did. I gladly accepted
all the challenges he put in front of me. His
standards were very high, and you could
either buckle or thrive under the stress.
I chose to thrive. Much of the way I now
operate as a CFO is a result of what
I learnt from Thomas.
MY CHALLENGES
Managing complexity
We are a company that deals with ride
hailing, food delivery and financial
services. These are unique businesses
with vastly different parameters. No one
else in the region performs on a scale like
Grab. We operate in over 700 cities across
eight countries.
It is well known that financial services
is heavily regulated. Although that comes
with its own set of challenges, it is just one
part of it. The regulation for each part of
the business differs, and the business overall
is regulated by the US SEC.
Grab is undoubtedly a complex and
complicated business with its unique lines
that each carry a different set of regulations
and the fact that we operate in and are
regulated by eight different countries.
The industry is competitive, so we also
must deal with the big shifts in tech. Tech
changes quickly and with a business of
roughly 10,000 employees, you have to
be agile. We are not a small company,
and I have watched our ways of doing work
change at different times.
There are many local nuances we need
to understand and adapt to, including
many local languages, but we like to think
we have that covered. We run a hyper-local
business where our products are adapted to
each city in which we operate. That is
a challenge we have met head on. ■