Food ordering and delivery company Just Eat Takeaway.com has said that it expects further growth in 2021 after a surge in business during the COVID-19 pandemic helped it meet expectations for full-year 2020 earnings.
It expects to win market share in Britain in 2021, and achieve revenue growth, despite plans by rival Deliveroo for a stock market listing in London, CEO Jitse Groen said.
"We are quite a bit larger, and we'll do our best to compete with them," he said, citing an 88% surge in orders there in the first two months of 2021.
Takeaway also competes with Uber in its biggest European markets - Britain, Germany and the Netherlands.
Demand for food delivery services boomed last year as government-imposed curbs shuttered restaurants and customers stayed at home.
Takeaway's 2020 revenues rose by 54% to €2.4 billion in 2020, in line with analysts' expectations of €2.39 billion, according to Refinitiv data.
Adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) rose to €256 million, from €217 million a year earlier.
The figures were adjusted to account for Takeaway's $7.8 billion takeover of Britain's Just Eat in April of 2020, as if it had owned the company in both years.
Groen said that order growth will continue even as pandemic-driven deliveries eases in various markets over the course of 2021. But the company did not issue an earnings outlook, saying that it intends to sacrifice profitability to win market share.
The company recorded a net loss of €151 million for 2020, widening from €103.1 million in 2019.
Last year, Takeaway also agreed to buy US peer Grubhub in a $7.3 billion deal that would make it the largest food delivery company outside China.
It reiterated on Wednesday March 10 that that deal is set to close in the first half of 2021, pending approval from Grubhub shareholders.
Shares in Takeaway rose 2.6% to €82.16 by 0825 GMT on March 10, but below the nearly €100 that they traded for in June when it announced the all-share offer for Grubhub.
Rejected Offer For iFood Stake
Takeaway said that it had rejected a €2.3 billion offer for its 33% stake in iFood of Brazil, which is majority owned by tech giant Prosus. It did not name the bidder.
News by Reuters, edited by Hospitality Ireland. Click subscribe to sign up for the Hospitality Ireland print edition.
