Just Eat Takeaway: market share prevails over profits

Just Eat Takeaway looks back with satisfaction on an exceptional year. The fact that the losses continue to mount cannot shake the meal delivery company: market share and growth are the priority.

Costs in Great Britain

After Deliveroo, Just Eat Takeaway.com also announces a great year: the number of orders made through the meal delivery company rose by 42 per cent to 588 million in 2020. This is in line with the 46 per cent growth at competitor Deliveroo. “2020 was an extraordinary year for us,” said CEO Jitse Groen, with the Covid pandemic acting as a tailwind.

Nevertheless, Just Eat Takeaway.com ended the financial year with a loss of 151 million euros, compared to a loss of 115 million euros in 2019. Last year’s acquisition of the British Just Eat, which has also been included in the accounts since April, is the particular reason for those negative figures. EBITDA, in other words excluding those one-off costs, amounted to 256 million euros in the financial year, compared with 217 million euros in 2019. 
 

Growth must be even faster

In the second half of the year, Groen also invested further in the British acquisition while also taking preparatory steps (and costs) to acquire the American GrubHub in the first half of 2021. The investments appear to be paying off: Just Eat Takeaway.com would already be the undisputed market leader in the UK, both in numbers of orders and growth in home deliveries. In January and February, for example, take-away orders in the country increased by 88 per cent.

For 2021, despite the expected reopening of the hospitality industry, the meal delivery company expects another growth acceleration. The integration of GrubHub in the US should help ensure this. Chief Executive Groen also continues to reiterate that growth and market share have priority over profit for the company. Rival Deliveroo, however, did manage to reduce its losses.