Jump in profits for Just Eat

Online food delivery company Just Eat has reported a 43% rise in annual revenue in 2018 to £779.5 million and a pre tax profit of £101.7 million. Boosted by strong growth in the UK and Canada, this reverses a £76 million profit loss posted in 2017.

In the UK, orders were up 17% while revenue increased by 27%, helped by the successful integration of HungryHouse.

Just Eat invested £51 million last year in “strategic initiatives” which included £21 million in the UK to help restaurants fulfil their deliveries.

Peter Duffy, interim chief executive officer, comments: “Just Eat’s continued strong growth and strategic investments saw more than four million new customers join us in 2018. We are creating a leading hybrid offering founded on our unrivalled marketplace, combined with the targeted roll-out of delivery. This gives our growing customer base access to the greatest choice of restaurants and drives even more orders to our Restaurant Partners, ultimately strengthening the network effects of our business. We have a clear plan for the year ahead as our highly experienced team works hard to accelerate the execution of our strategy and we remain focused on long-term returns for shareholders.”

Just Eat expects further growth next year with full year revenue in 2019 predicted to be between £1bn and £1.1bn with earnings in the region of £185 million to £205 million.