Although the catering industry is reopening, delivery service Deliveroo reports that consumers continue to order plenty of meals and have them delivered to their homes. The company is also experiencing strong growth in the delivery of groceries.
Still loss-making
In the first half of the year, Deliveroo’s gross transaction value (the turnover of affiliated restaurants) increased by 102% to 3.4 billion pounds (4 billion euros). Growth was 131% in the first quarter and 81% in the second quarter. This is significantly higher than expected, the delivery service says, despite the effects of the restaurant reopening and an increasingly difficult basis for comparison.
Revenue for Deliveroo itself rose 82 per cent to 922.5 million pounds (well 1 billion euros). However, the gross profit margin fell from 8.8 per cent to 7.8 per cent as a result of higher investments. The company posted a pre-tax loss of 104.8 million pounds (124 million euros), which is a slight improvement compared to 2020.
Exit Spain
Deliveroo managed to increase both the number of affiliated restaurants and the number of active customers, and also sees further growth in the delivery of online groceries. However, the company will cease its activities in Spain: it would require too high an investment to gain a top position in that country.
“We are seeing strong growth and engagement across our marketplace as lockdowns continue to ease. Demand has been high amongst consumers. We have widened our consumer base, seen people continuing to order frequently and we now work with more food merchants than any other platform in the UK. At the same time, more riders are choosing to continue to work with the company because they value the work we offer”, said founder and CEO Will Shu. The delivery service does expect consumer behaviour to weaken later in the year. Nevertheless, the gross transaction value will increase by 50 to 60 per cent this year.
