Talabat Net Profit Falls 15% as Everyday App Spending Cuts Into Margins
Revenue rose 18% to $1.2 billion and GMV grew 16% to $3 billion, but food and Everyday App spending pulled adjusted EBITDA down 3%.
Talabat's net profit fell 15% year over year to $102 million in the third quarter of 2026, dragged down by food investments tied to its $120 million Everyday App program. The company released the results on Friday.
Revenue rose 18% to $1.2 billion, and gross merchandise value grew 16% to $3 billion. GMV converted to revenue at a ratio of 40%. Talabat attributed the increase to a larger customer base, more frequent ordering and bigger baskets, helped by strong summer and back-to-school demand and by execution of its investment plan.
Chief executive Toon Gyssels said growth picked up in the quarter across both the Food and Grocery & Retail verticals and in every market, building on momentum from the first half. He expects the pace to rise again in the fourth quarter, and said the run of results gave the company confidence to lift full-year guidance for the second time in 2026.
The Gulf Cooperation Council accounted for $2.3 billion of GMV, up 9% and equal to 75% of the total. Egypt, Jordan and Iraq — the non-GCC markets — contributed $736 million, up 43%, or 25% of the total.
Adjusted EBITDA slipped 3% to $150 million as gross profit margins narrowed. Food spending aimed at defending market leadership and grocery and retail outlays on the Everyday App both weighed on margins.
Free cash flow reached $141 million, up 41% year over year. The company ended the quarter with $711 million in net cash against $209 million of gross debt, which it described as a stronger balance sheet.
Profitability also got a lift from roughly $9 million of food customer incentives that went unspent, because competition proved less intense than the company had budgeted for.
That underspend shows how much of Talabat's near-term earnings depends on how hard rivals push. The company has already put nearly $58 million of operating, capital and lease spending into food, grocery and retail in the first half of 2026 under the same board-approved plan, and it is choosing to trade margin for share while non-GCC markets grow far faster than the Gulf.
Talabat was founded in Kuwait in 2004 and operates in the UAE, Oman, Qatar, Bahrain, Jordan, Iraq and Egypt. It reported more than 7 million monthly active customers as of December 2025.
The Dubai-listed company had a market capitalisation of $7.4 billion (AED 27.2 billion) as of 10 a.m. Arabia Standard Time on Friday. Its shares were down 0.4% at $0.32 (AED 1.17).
