The Gulf Time Newspaper One of the finest business newspapers in the UAE brought to you by our professional writers and editors.
ABU DHABI/WAM
Lulu Retail on Thursday announced its financial results for the three-month and nine-month periods ended September 30 2024 in its first financial update since its record IPO on ADX. The company delivered robust revenue growth in Q3 2024, reaching $1.86 billion, up 6.1% YoY.
In a press release on Thursday, Lulu said that the strong sales performance was driven by significant growth in key markets, including UAE, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, with sales growth across key product categories.
Like-for-like (LFL) sales in Q3 2024 increased by 1.2% to $1.7 billion, while LFL sales for 9M 2024 increased by 2.2% to $5.3 billion.
The UAE saw strong revenue growth of 7.5% in Q3 2024, mainly driven by healthy LFL growth of 4.7% during the quarter and the benefit of strong market tailwinds in the region. Three new stores were opened in the 9- months 2024 period.
Revenue in KSA grew by 5.7% to $369.3 million in Q3 2024, and Oman, Kuwait and Bahrain achieved robust revenue growth, with Qatar delivering stable revenue and maintaining its leading market share position.
Omnichannel remains a key focus area for Lulu, with e-commerce sales increasing to $237.4 million during the nine-month period, up 83.5% YoY. E-commerce sales now constitute 4.3% as a percentage of total retail sales.
EBITDA in Q3 2024 was $176.3 million, up 9.9% YoY, with an EBITDA margin of 9.5%, around 30bps improvement YoY.
Net Profit from Continuing Operations increased to $35.1 million for the Q3 period, an increase of 126.0%, driven by improved operating profit and improved cost management. For the nine-month period, Net Profit from Continuing Operations improved by 73.3% to $151.5 million.
Yusuffali MA, Chairman of Lulu Retail, commented, “It has been a milestone period for our team, with our record listing on ADX and our first set of results as a listed company. The vision and ambition of nations across the GCC are enabling businesses like Lulu to thrive and creating opportunities for growth.”
Saifee Rupawala, Chief Executive Officer of Lulu Retail, stated, “The third quarter and nine-month period were marked with ongoing revenue and profit growth across our business, driven by sales growth across our six GCC markets, strategic expansion in higher margin segments like Private Label and through investment in operational efficiencies and customer-focused engagement.”