Lulu Retail posts 2% Q3 revenue gain with 53% online sales growth

Lulu Retail Holdings reported a 2% year-on-year rise in third-quarter 2026 revenue to $1.9 billion, the Khaleej Times reported on Nov. 6.

The Abu Dhabi-listed GCC retailer’s digital sales grew much faster than the group total, rising 53% from the third quarter of 2025 and accounting for 9.7% of retail sales.

Lulu recorded $444 million in profit, $175 million in EBITDA, or earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, and $29 million in net income for the three months ended Sept. 30. The report did not provide year-earlier comparisons for those three measures.

Saifee Rupawala, chief executive officer of Lulu Retail, linked the quarter to improving trading conditions. "Revenue growth in Q3 is encouraging and this gives us optimism as we go into Q4 and next year," he said, according to the report.

The company opened five stores in the third quarter, with two in Saudi Arabia and one each in the UAE, Oman and Kuwait. The additions covered about 18,800 square metres, or about 3,760 square metres per new store, according to Atlas360 calculations, and lifted openings in the first nine months of 2026 to 22 stores.

Online momentum came from both Lulu’s own platform and delivery partners, the report said. Sales through the company’s digital channel more than doubled year on year, while its redesigned app, with order tracking and upgraded search functions, exceeded 1 million monthly active users.

The pressure point remained margins. Lulu said higher input costs and limited room to pass them on to shoppers weighed on gross margins, while operating-expense controls supported earnings.

Food sales increased year on year in each month of the quarter, while non-food categories were still affected by weaker consumer sentiment, though their performance improved compared with the second quarter, according to the report.

Lulu’s Happiness loyalty programme reached 10 million members across the GCC during the quarter. The company also increased inventories to improve supply-chain resilience and protect product availability.

The retailer’s expansion plan for 2027 to 2031 allocates about one-third of future openings to the UAE, especially Abu Dhabi and Dubai, and about one-third to Saudi Arabia. Lulu expects more than three-quarters of planned outlets to be smaller Express or Mini Market formats.

Lulu said it would continue investing in digital services, artificial intelligence and supply-chain efficiency to support growth.

Q4 and expansion checks

• Q4 2026: Lulu’s next performance marker is whether revenue continues to grow after the 2% year-on-year increase reported for the third quarter of 2026.

• Q4 2026: margin trends will show whether higher input costs and limited pricing power continue to weigh on gross margins.

• 2027-2031: the store rollout plan can be checked against Lulu’s stated split, with about one-third of future openings in the UAE, about one-third in Saudi Arabia and the rest across other GCC markets.