Yahoo Finance UK lockdown fuels 695% surge in Just Eat orders
Takeaway courier company Just Eat (JET.L) announced a fourth consecutive quarter of growth in its first quarter trading update on Tuesday morning, saying its fastest growing segment was the UK market.
The business said in its first quarter trading update that it had reached a 695% order growth rate year-on-year in the UK.
Overall it said it processed 200 million orders in the first quarter of 2021, representing a 79% increase compared with the same period of 2020.
Jitse Groen, CEO of Just Eat said: “We are also very proud of the acceleration in two of our highly profitable markets, with 77% order growth in Germany and 53% in the Netherlands.
"Just Eat Takeaway.com is in excellent shape and the start of 2021 has been very strong.”
It said Gross Merchandise Value (GMV) amounted to €4.5bn (£3.8bn, $5.3bn) in the first quarter of 2021, up 89% on a constant currency basis compared with the first quarter of 2020.
Shares gained strongly on the news, rising around 2% in early trade in London.
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Amid widespread discussions about the rights of gig economy workers, the delivery company also noted it has rolled out the employed Delivery model (“Scoober”) throughout Europe, including expanded London coverage and Birmingham roll-out in the UK, and expansion to Lyon, Bordeaux and Toulouse in France.
In Italy, Just Eat was the first food delivery company to sign a Collective Bargaining Agreement with the largest unions for the employment of its couriers.
The combination of Just Eat and Takeaway.com has meant it has seen rapid growth in recent years. It now has operations in the United Kingdom, Germany, the Netherlands, Canada, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Denmark, France, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Luxembourg, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Spain and Switzerland, as well as through partnerships in Colombia and Brazil.
Just Eat fortunes come in stark contrast to those of rival company Deliveroo (ROO.L), which listed on the London Stock Exchange earlier this month.
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On Monday, the takeaway app's stock sank to new lows falling to 241.70p in afternoon trade. This marked the lowest level since the company went public just under two weeks ago.
Shares had recovered by around 3.5% on Tuesday morning.
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