Just Eat growth expected to slow as pandemic boost wanes

Fast food delivery giant Just Eat Takeaway.com is set to reveal its latest trading figures as the boost from the pandemic fades.

The Amsterdam-based firm revealed last month that revenues jumped 33% in 2021, on top of impressive growth in a pandemic-fuelled 2020, when lockdowns forced people to eat at home.

It forecast growth in orders on a gross transaction value basis to slow this year, but still remain in the “mid-teens” and insisted it was on the path to profitability after heavy investment saw annual losses widen last year.

But the lifting of Covid restrictions means eating out and overseas holidays are back on the agenda, which may knock demand for takeaways at home.

Rival Deliveroo recently said that while sales rose 11% in the first quarter, the amount spent per order fell and founder Will Shu said consumer behaviour may “moderate” over the year.

Experts at Numis Securities are expecting Just East’s orders to rise by 4 per cent year-on-year to 277 million, or €7.33 billion (£6.1 billion) by gross transaction value, in the first quarter.

On a two year pre-pandemic comparison basis, this would mark an acceleration in growth to 147%, up from 133% in the fourth quarter of 2021.

The performance is set to be led by Northern Europe, where Numis sees growth of 10%t, followed by mid-single digit growth in the UK and Ireland.

The group said on unveiling final results last month that it was “rapidly progressing” towards profit in 2022, including in the UK, where it spent on winning online share, ramping up marketing campaigns and cutting delivery fees to customers.

London-listed Just Eat reported pre-tax losses of £910 million for 2021, against losses of €147m £122m in 2020 – despite raking in £4.4bn in revenues.

In the UK and Ireland, revenues jumped 63% to £993 million as orders jumped 52%, though the firm still made an £88m loss.