Takeaway.com looks ahead to Just Eat after rise in revenue
Takeaway.com saw a sharp rise in revenue prior to its merger with UK peer Just Eat.
The figures
Takeaway processed 159.2m orders in 2019, representing a 70 per cent compared with the year before.
The average commission rate increased to 12.6 per cent in 2019 from 12.1 per cent in 2018, mainly driven by an increase in the standard commission rate in Germany and Poland.
Net revenue surged 79 per cent to €415.9m, fuelled by growth and its €930m acquisition of Delivery Hero’s German operations in April.
The company reported adjusted EBITDA of €12.3m after a loss of 11.3m a year earlier. The company said it had been driven by “scale and efficiency in marketing”.
Why it’s interesting
Takeaway declared its £6.02bn takeover of Just Eat in January and is awaiting final approval from the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA).
Shares of the merged company, listed in London, were down nearly 1.5 per cent in morning trading.
On Wednesday Delivery Hero said it had entered into an agreement to buy 8.4m shares in the merged company. It means the German takeaway firm will restore its 11 per cent stake in Just Eat.
Neil Wilson, chief market analyst at Markets.com, said: “Just Eat Takeaway.com is not providing guidance because of the material impact of the merger. Go figure that one out.”
“Shareholders would expect the company to know what it’s letting itself in for. You’d think they understand the impact of the merger on revenues. On that basis, reporting the past numbers are kind of irrelevant. How do shareholders figure out value?”
What Takeaway.com said
Takeaway chief executive Jitse Groen said:
“For the first time since our IPO, the Company ended the year with a positive Adjusted EBITDA. Achieving this by the end of the third quarter was one of the medium-term targets in our IPO prospectus. It is important to note that we almost four-folded our revenue since 2016 and operational profitability is still a positive by-product of our top-line growth. This year, we rapidly integrated the German brands we acquired, and only several months later, we announced the merger with Just Eat. We are very excited about the opportunities the combination makes possible and are looking forward to 2020.”