talabat raised its full-year 2026 guidance across all key metrics after first-half growth beat expectations, even as second-quarter profit fell 18%. The Dubai-listed delivery company now expects GMV growth of 13-15% (previously 11-14%), revenue growth of 16-18%, adjusted EBITDA of $535-565 million, net income of $325-355 million and free cash flow of $400-430 million.
First-half GMV rose 15% at constant currency to $5.6 billion, ahead of talabat’s original full-year range. Gulf News has the numbers.
The Q2 scorecard
| Metric | Q2 2026 | Change |
|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $1.1bn | +16% |
| GMV | $2.9bn | +11% |
| Adjusted EBITDA | $147m | -13% |
| Net income | $100m | -18% |
Profitability slipped as talabat kept spending under its $120 million strategic investment programme, which funds groceries, loyalty and the everyday-app push. Adjusted EBITDA fell to 5% of GMV from 6.4% a year earlier; net income fell to 3.4% of GMV from 4.6%.
talabat carried the strong momentum from the start of the year into Q2 2026. During the first half, we achieved 15% GMV growth and 19% revenue growth alongside Adjusted EBITDA margins of 4.9%, outperforming our full-year expectations.
Toon Gyssels, chief executive of talabat
Groceries take a bigger share
Multi-vertical customers generated 75% of Q2 GMV, up four percentage points. More than one in four active customers subscribe to talabat pro, which accounted for 51% of platform GMV. Active partners reached about 97,000, up 14%, and the rider network grew 25% to around 189,000.
The GCC remains the biggest market — $2.3 billion of Q2 GMV, up 5%, 78% of the group total. Non-GCC markets (Egypt, Jordan, Iraq) grew 41% to $642 million, lifting their share to 22% from 17%.
Buyback and dividend
talabat has started its share buyback, repurchasing 108.1 million shares by August 12 at an average of Dh1.18 each — about $35 million, or 0.46% of issued capital. Its dividend policy is unchanged at a 90% payout ratio, with an interim dividend based on first-half earnings expected in September and paid in October.
The update follows Uber’s rejected €11.5 billion bid for Delivery Hero, and talabat’s own digital wallet for riders.
Why did talabat’s Q2 profit fall?
Net income fell 18% to $100M as talabat kept spending under its $120M strategic investment programme on groceries, loyalty and its everyday app.
What is talabat’s new 2026 guidance?
GMV growth of 13-15%, revenue growth of 16-18%, adjusted EBITDA of $535-565M and net income of $325-355M.
Is talabat still paying dividends?
Yes — the dividend policy is unchanged at a 90% payout ratio, with an interim dividend on H1 earnings expected in September and paid in October.
