AMSTERDAM, Jan 18 (Reuters) – Just Eat Takeaway.com NV (TKWY.AS), Europe’s largest meals delivery company, said on Wednesday that its orders fell by a worse-than-expected 12% in the fourth quarter of 2022, pulled down by a 16% drop at its U.S. Grubhub division.
The company, which has been cutting costs in a bid to improve profitability, said in a trading update that it still eked out a profit at the operating level for the full year 2022, sooner than analysts had expected, and will remain profitable in 2023.
Fourth-quarter orders fell 12% to 239.8 million, compared with expectations of an 8% fall among analysts polled by Refinitiv.
Amid an inflation-driven slowdown, customers ordered less frequently but had placed larger orders on average. Gross Transaction Value (GTV), which measures total value of merchandise sold on Takeaway’s platform, fell by 2% to 7.11 billion euros ($7.67 billion), in line with estimates.
The company said it had earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) of around 16 million euros for the full year 2022, swinging from a loss of 350 million euros in 2021. Takeaway also forecast an EBITDA of 225 million euros for 2023.
The EBITDA was driven by improved revenue per order, delivery costs per order, and cost-cutting measures, Takeaway said in a statement.
“Our improved profitability and strong capital position strengthen our business for further growth and underpin our ability to both deliver on our adjusted EBITDA targets and invest” Chief Executive Officer Jitse Groen said in a statement.
Analysts polled by Refinitiv had seen full-year EBITDA at a loss of 340 million euros.
The company reiterated its stance of exploring a “partial or full” sale of Grubhub, which it acquired for $7.3 billion in 2021.
Takeaway is due to report its fourth-quarter and full-year earnings on March 1.
($1 = 0.9272 euros)
Reporting by Toby Sterling; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips
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