German meal-kit maker HelloFresh reported a 7.5% fall in its quarterly core earnings, in line with its pre-released numbers from July and slightly above market estimates.
The Berlin-based company, which lets customers choose online recipes and delivers the pre-portioned ingredients to their doors, reported adjusted earnings before interest taxes depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) of €145.9 million ($149.6 million) in the second quarter, above analysts' average forecast of €136 million in a company-compiled consensus.
In the pre-announcement last month, HelloFresh had said it expected adjusted EBITDA to come between €140 million and €150 million.
'Mitigating Inflation Effects'
"We've been largely mitigating inflation effects without passing on the higher costs in full to our customers," said chief executive Dominik Richter in a statement.
The company, however, said last month that inflation, waning consumer confidence and the Ukraine war would weigh on earnings in the second half of the year, as it cut its full-year guidance.
Its quarterly revenue came in line with the preliminary figure at €1.96 billion.
The company's active customer base increased by 4.1% year-on-year to 8.0 million in the second quarter, while the average order value increased by 11% year-on-year on a constant currency basis.
"Our product offering continues to come at an attractive and competitive pricing and brings additional benefits to our customers, such as having fresh food delivered to their homes, reducing food waste and taking away the hassle of having to think about what to shop and cook,” Richter added.
News by Reuters, additional reporting by ESM – your source for the latest technology news. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: European Supermarket Magazine.
