Urban Company shares tumble 6% as Q2 loss widens on Insta Help investments

Shares of Urban Company Ltd fell 6.38 per cent in Monday's trade to hit a low of Rs 147.50 after the home services platform reported a sharp widening of its consolidated net loss for the second quarter (Q2) of FY26. The company posted a net loss of Rs 59 crore, compared with Rs 2 crore in the same quarter last year.

The Gurugram-based firm attributed the setback to heavy upfront investments in Insta Help, its newly launched daily housekeeping vertical, which offset the strong performance of its core services and products businesses.

Urban Company's revenue from operations rose 37 per cent year-on-year (YoY) to Rs 380 crore in Q2 FY26, up from Rs 277 crore in Q2 FY25. The company's results were announced on Saturday.

Total expenses increased to Rs 462 crore during the quarter, compared with Rs 384 crore in the preceding three months, as the company ramped up spending on partner training, onboarding and customer acquisition to expand Insta Help. Consequently, adjusted EBITDA turned negative at Rs 35 crore, against a profit of Rs 21 crore in the previous quarter.

Excluding Insta Help, Urban Company reported an adjusted EBITDA profit of Rs 10 crore, or 0.9 per cent of net transaction value (NTV), underscoring the profitability of its core operations. Insta Help alone incurred an EBITDA loss of Rs 44 crore during the period.

"Our new business, Insta Help, is scaling rapidly and it has reached around 4.7 lakh orders in October but did incur a loss in Q2," said Abhiraj Singh Bhal, cofounder and CEO of Urban Company. "We recognise that these short-term investments impact profitability, but the opportunity in Insta Help is significant and immediate."

The company noted that early indicators for Insta Help were encouraging, citing strong consumer adoption and repeat usage. It added that the initiative represents a long-term growth opportunity, with ongoing investments deemed crucial to sustaining market leadership in the expanding home services segment.