Just Eat Takeaway.com reported a 14% increase in orders in the fourth quarter of its financial year, in line with expectations, and maintained its financial forecasts for 2022.
In a trading update, the company said it had delivered 273.7 million orders in the fourth quarter of last year, up from 240.4 million in the same period of 2020.
Increase In Orders
Chief executive Jitse Groen repeated that Just Eat Takeaway expected orders to increase and losses to fall in 2022 but stopped short of forecasting it would break even on an operating basis this year, unlike German rival Delivery Hero, which said it would do so in the second half.
"Following the merger of Just Eat and Takeaway.com nearly two years ago, we made significant investments to grow our leadership positions and the company is now six times bigger in terms of orders," Groen said.
"On the back of this success, we have markedly improved our profitability throughout the second half of 2021, and we will continue to improve adjusted EBITDA this year."
Just Eat Takeaway has come under pressure from investors to sell operations, including U.S. subsidiary Grubhub, to reduce its operating losses as the boost it received from increased orders during the COVID-19 pandemic has begun to fade.
Increased Competition
After rapid growth during the pandemic, European food delivery firms such as Just Eat Takeaway, Deliveroo and Delivery Hero are bracing for consolidation and more competition from a new generation of fast grocery and delivery companies.
Groen said losses would be driven by continued investment in its delivery network in Britain, where it owns Just Eat.
He said the company was continuing to negotiate over the sale of its one-third stake in iFood, Brazil's largest meal delivery company.
On Grubhub, which has lost market share since Just Eat Takeaway bought it for $7.3 billion (€6.42 billion) in June last year, he said, "We are open to improvements ... that can be a partner and it can be something else that improves that business."
Just Eat Takeaway recently announced a delivery deal with Tesco's One Stop brand, as well as retailer Asda.
News by Reuters, additional reporting by ESM. For more Technology news, click here. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: European Supermarket Magazine.
