Just Eat Takeaway swings to small 2022 core profit, sees better 2023

AMSTERDAM (Reuters) -Just Eat Takeaway.com, Europe's largest meals delivery company, swung to a small 2022 core profit on Wednesday and said it was targeting 225 million euros of core profit this year.

"This guidance includes additional investments... as well as wage costs inflation and takes into account an uncertain macro-economic environment," the company said, noting that most of the improvement would come towards the end of the year.

Adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) in 2022 stood at 19 million euros ($20.13 million), compared with a loss of 350 million euros in 2021.

The numbers were in line with a trading update the company issued on Jan. 18.

Jefferies said in a note that Wednesday's report showed most of the company's EBITDA, 313 million euros worth, came from Northern Europe. In North America, where it operates Grubhub and Skip The Dishes, EBITDA was 65 million euros. Southern countries posted losses.

Revenue was 5.56 billion euros, up from 4.50 billion euros a year earlier, and net loss was 5.67 billion euros, up from a loss of 1.04 billion euros.

The company took a book loss on the value of its stake in Brazil's iFood, which was sold for 1.5 billion euros, and impairments totalling 4.6 billion euros on the value of its U.S. arm Grubhub, bought for $7.3 billion in 2021 and Just Eat, bought for $7.8 billion in 2020, in all-share deals.

Just Eat Takeaway shares closed at 20.58 euros on Monday, up 4.8% this year but well below the 100 euros they reached in late 2020 during COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns.

Just Eat repeated that it is trying to sell Grubhub but had not yet agreed on any deal.

The company ended the year with just over 2 billion euros in cash.

($1 = 0.9439 euros)

(Reporting by Toby Sterling; editing by Subhranshu Sahu and Jason Neely)