Lulu Retail Holdings on Tuesday reported that net profit increased 7.5 per cent year-on-year in the first 9 months of 2025 to $163 million and plans to open 50 outlets over the next three years.

The largest pan-GCC full-line retailer opened six new stores in Q3 2025, taking the total to 13 in the first nine months. Three more were opened in October 2025.

Over the next three years, it plans to open 50 outlets split roughly equally between the UAE, Saudi Arabia and other GCC markets. The company said two stores were closed in the third quarter, one express store in the UAE and a mini market in Saudi Arabia.

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The company said it is evolving to meet the challenges of the changing retail landscape in Saudi Arabia as online and quick-commerce platforms are scaling quickly while value-focused players expand their footprint, intensifying competition across channels.

“Lulu continues to selectively expand our store network in high-potential catchments, while simultaneously scaling our own e-commerce platform. In addition, a number of strategic initiatives have been launched, including smarter promotional mechanics, reducing wastage in our fresh food category, and pursuing cost optimisation across the network. Additionally, we are expanding partnerships with aggregators to widen our reach and customer proposition,” it said in its third-quarter report.

January-September 2025 results

The retailer said its revenues during January-September 2025 jumped 4.7 per cent year-on-year to $6 billion.

Its 9-month EBITDA increased to $598 million, an increase of 5.5 per cent year-on-year.

“Amidst a challenging grocery retail environment, Lulu continues to show resilience as we execute on our growth strategy. Year-on-year customer count growth of almost 5 per cent demonstrates the strong appetite for Lulu's value-to-premium offering. Nine months into the year our store rollout programme remains on track and like-for-like sales are positive in all our countries except Bahrain,” said Saifee Rupawala, CEO of Lulu Retail.

“As customer preference for online channels continues to grow, Lulu is investing in our e-commerce offering, which is scaling at a rapid rate. Furthermore, we are evolving our customer offering with a trend towards smaller stores and a disciplined rollout programme,” he said.

During third quarter of 2025, revenue totalled $1,896 million, over two per cent increase year-on-year.

Gross profit increased 3.1 per cent in Q3 2025 to $449 million, while net profit margins for Q3 2025 were also flat year-on-year, with $36 million reported for the period.

E-commerce continues to scale with year-on-year growth of 32.4 per cent in Q3 2025, aligned to 33.6 per cent year-on-year growth for nine months of 2025.

It added that sales growth has been led by high demand for fresh food and electrical goods.

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