Dubai firm talabat sets higher growth for 2025 after $121m profit

Dubai: The food and retail delivery company Talabat Holding now expects higher growth for full-year 2025 after netting a profit of $121 million in the second quarter.

The company, listed on DFM, also shows net profits of $362.5 million since inception on September 3, 2024 to end June this year.

In its revised growth forecasts, talabat expects revenues to be higher by 29%-32% on a constant currency basis against the previous estimate of 18%-20% growth for 2025.

On DFM, the talabat share price is up 2.36% in the last 5 days to Dh1.3. But year-to-date, the stock is trailing by 7.14%. (The IPO price was Dh1.6)

It expects a net income margin of 5%, in line with earlier projections, and rated as solid by analysts in a highly competitive delivery services business in the UAE and Gulf markets.

The higher revenue expectations are based on its ‘gross merchandise value’ (GMV and based on order flows) shooting up by 27%-29% rather than the earlier estimates for 17%-18% growth.

tabalat now reckons there will be ‘strong’ double digit growth in the core GCC segment and food vertical, and ‘even faster growth in non-GCC markets and the G&R (grocery and retail) vertical, albeit from a lower base’.

According to Tomaso Rodriguez, CEOfficer of talabat, “Expanding our Groceries and Retail vertical and fostering deeper customer loyalty is clearly yielding results.

“We are particularly pleased with the strong uptake of ‘talabat pro’, our premium subscription loyalty programme, across all markets, alongside strong growth in demand within our non-GCC markets.”

As always, the competitive pressures in food and grocery delivery business in markets such as the UAE and Saudi Arabia are immense. Players like noon have become quite visible in the space.