Talabat profit soars nearly 4x as groceries drive growth

Online food delivery outfit Talabat has kicked off the year with a sharp surge in profitability, reporting a near fourfold increase in net income to $103m for the first quarter of 2025, marking a strong performance in a sector known for tight margins and growing competition.

The Dubai-headquartered company, which operates in eight MENA markets — the UAE, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, Oman, Egypt, Jordan and Iraq — now serves over 6.5 million active users.

The strong Q1 performance underscores rising consumer demand for digital convenience and the platform’s ability to diversify beyond restaurant orders.

Gross merchandise value (GMV) climbed 30 per cent year-on-year to $2.1bn in the quarter to March. Revenue rose 34 per cent to $846m, and adjusted EBITDA — a key profitability measure — was also up 34 per cent to $140m, representing a margin of 6.7 per cent.

Adjusted net income, which excludes volatile items such as foreign exchange effects and shareholder loan interest, came in at $99m — up 24 per cent from a year ago. This figure provides a cleaner picture of core operational performance and is particularly relevant in a sector where bottom-line results can be distorted by swings in currency or one-off costs.

CEO Tomaso Rodriguez attributed the growth to deepening customer loyalty, a broader product mix, and regional scale.

“Our Groceries and Retail vertical contributed approximately one-third of GMV when including InstaShop for the full quarter,” he said.

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“This reinforces the opportunity in scaling this vertical further.”

While Talabat’s food delivery segment remains strong — especially across its core GCC markets — it is the grocery and convenience segment that is seeing faster growth. Non-GCC markets such as Egypt, Jordan and Iraq are gaining share, driven by rising order frequency and the rollout of subscription service talabat pro.

In February, Talabat finalised its acquisition of InstaShop, a leading grocery delivery marketplace. The company expects to realise “meaningful cost synergies” from the integration over the coming quarters.

Adjusted free cash flow rose 39 per cent to $135m, with a cash conversion ratio of 96 per cent — underscoring the operational leverage in the business.

Talabat’s Q1 2025 results are its first full quarterly report since listing on the Dubai Financial Market (DFM) in December 2024.

Talabat’s initial public offering (IPO) was the largest in the GCC in 2024 and the largest technology sector IPO globally last year. Upon listing, the company pegged its market capitalisation at around $10bn, but as of 9 May 2025 that figure was around $8.75bn.

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