British meal delivery company Deliveroo said it had achieved the twin milestones of positive net profit and free cash flow in the first half as demand from customers stabilised, sending its shares up 9% on Thursday.
Chief Executive Will Shu, who co-founded the business in 2013, said the performance overall was "really strong".
"We are improving profitability whilst we're still growing," he said. "Orders returned to year-on-year growth and GTV (gross transaction value) momentum is good."
Shares
The group, which has £662 million ( €773 million) of cash, said it would buy back £150 million (€175 million) of stock.
Shares in Deliveroo, which competes with Uber Eats and Just Eat Takeaway, rose 9% to 139 pence.
'Cautiously Optimistic'
Shu said consumer sentiment was more stable, although it would be a stretch to call it positive. "We're cautiously optimistic, we see less headwinds than we did before," he said.
He said Deliveroo had improved its loyalty programme, adding a 10% credit award on orders over £30 for its Plus Gold members and introducing a Plus Diamond for its top customers, who would be able to access exclusive restaurants.
"Plus customers are much more engaged on our platform than non-Plus customers, and Plus is over 40% of global order volume now," he said.
Forecast
Deliveroo upgraded its forecast for full-year core earnings to the upper half of £110 million (€128 million) to £130 million (€152 million) range after reporting a better-than-expected 57% rise to £61.7 million (€72.1 million) in the first half.
It reported net profit of £1.3 million ($1.65 million), compared to an £83 million (€97 million) loss a year ago, and free cash flow of £3.2 million (€3.7 million) for the period.
