Urban Company Shares Fall Over 6% After Wider Quarterly Loss, ‘Insta Help’ Segment Drags Earnings
Shares of Indian home services platform Urban Company (URBN.NS) dropped over 6% in early trade on Monday, following the release of its first quarterly results since listing. The stock, which debuted in September at a 57.5% premium at ₹162.25, fell as much as 6.8% to ₹147.01 before recovering slightly to trade 2.2% lower by 9:52 a.m. IST.
The company reported a consolidated loss of ₹593.3 million ($7 million) for the September quarter, significantly wider than the ₹18.2 million loss recorded a year earlier. This marks a sharp turnaround from the previous quarter, when Urban Company posted a profit of ₹69.4 million. While the firm’s domestic consumer services division achieved a 19.3% increase in net transaction value, profit from the segment plunged more than 61%.
The major drag on earnings came from the firm’s newly launched “Insta Help” vertical, which allows users to book domestic workers within 15 minutes. The segment incurred losses of ₹429.1 million, and analysts at Morgan Stanley cited limited clarity on its potential path to profitability. Urban Company said it expects continued losses in the coming quarters due to sustained investment in the “Insta Help” business. Since its market debut on September 17, the company’s shares have declined by more than 9%, trading below its listing-day price.
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