Just Eat shares soar as firm ups earnings forecast

The company behind takeaway firm Just Eat has said it will become profitable earlier than first thought after work to get the business into the green.

Bosses at Just Eat Takeaway.com said they think the company will make adjusted earnings profit in the second half of the year, better than previous expectations.

Adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (Ebitda) will swing from a loss of 134 million euros (£120 million) in the first half of 2022 to a profit in the second, it added.

“As a result of the significant progress Just Eat Takeaway.com has already made, management now expects Just Eat Takeaway.com to turn profitable earlier than initially anticipated,” bosses said on Tuesday.

The business had previously said that adjusted Ebitda margin would range between minus 0.5% and minus 0.7%. Shares jumped more than 10% following the news.

The company expects gross transaction value (GTV) to grow in the low single digits. It previously expected mid-single digit growth.

“Due to uncertainty related to the impact of macroeconomic conditions and foreign exchange volatility on our business, management updates the guidance on GTV to grow by low-single digit year-on-year in 2022,” Just Eat Takeaway.com said.

It has been a rough time for the takeaway giant in recent months. Facing activist pressure, it has been forced to consider a sale of Grubhub, a US delivery company that it bought just a year ago.

Last month Just Eat Takeaway.com said it had written down the value of Grubhub by three billion euros (£2.7 billion). It bought the firm for 7.3 billion dollars (£6.8 billion).