Just Eat Takeaway.com NV’s first-half earnings beat analysts’ estimates as cost cutting and restructuring measures boosted profitability.
The company swung to a profit, reporting adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization of €143 million ($158 million), up from a loss of €134 million in the same period a year ago, Just Eat said in a statement on Wednesday. That compared to the €128 million average estimate from analysts in a Bloomberg survey.
Just Eat has been targeting cost cutting measures including the pooling of orders in a bid to improve profitability. Order growth has remained weak since the pandemic when requests for takeout deliveries boomed during the Covid-19 lockdowns. The delivery giant has also been expanding its order base by partnering with firms such as Lush Cosmetics Ltd.
Orders fell 12% to 450 million in the first half of the year, the Amsterdam-based company said. That compared to the 451.1 million average forecast from analysts in a Bloomberg survey.
The total value of orders placed on Just Eat’s platform in the first half of the year fell 7% to €13.2 billion, compared to an average estimate of €13.5 billion.
The company also reiterated its 2023 guidance for adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization of around €275 million and said growth is still expected to be skewed toward the end of the year.
Just Eat said it continues to actively explore the partial or full sale of Grubhub which it acquired in 2021 for about $7.3 billion. Last year, it wrote down the value of the US-based unit by €3 billion.
The company also announced that Brent Wissink will be stepping down as chief financial officer as per the annual general meeting in May 2024. The supervisory board will start the process of finding a successor.
