Deliveroo revenues soar as international expansion pays off

Deliveroo’s global expansion has sparked a 611 per cent increase in annual sales, but the start-up food delivery firm failed to turn a profit as investment costs weighed on its bottom line.

The company said sales surged to £128.6 million in 2016, marking a significant increase from £18m just a year earlier, with “revenues from the international regions increasing substantially” for the period.

The Uk-headquartered delivery food company now operates in 13 countries, including the US, Italy, Dubai, Australia and Hong Kong.

But according to the latest accounts filed for Roofoods Ltd at Companies House, its pre-tax losses ballooned 328 per cent from £30.1m in 2015 to £129m last year.

Rising operating costs were compounded by its rebranding project, which involved design costs and the writeoff of old branded equipment, totalling £5.3m.

Deliveroo signalled brighter times ahead, saying that it expects “significant further growth” in sales across all markets, and would generate that growth by improving its online presence, expanding its distribution networks and launching a “large scale, high impact” marketing campaign.

A spokesman for the company said: “Deliveroo is going from strength to strength, with revenue jumping by over 600 per cent across our global markets in 2016. Deliveroo is investing heavily in new sites.” 0 The Uk-headquartered firm now operates in 13 countries