Just Eat makes loss in 2017 but orders surge

ONLINE TAKEAWAY delivery firm Just Eat has swung to a loss in 2017 after taking a mammoth hit on its Australian and New Zealand business, but cheered a record surge in orders.

The group – recently promoted to the FTSE 100 Index – slumped to a £76m pre-tax loss last year against profits of £91.3m in 2016 after taking a £180.4m charge on the acquisition of its Australian and New Zealand arm.

Just Eat said with the hit stripped out, it would have made a profit of £104.4m.

It posted underlying earnings of £164m – up 42 per cent on 2016 – and forecast this to grow further in 2018, to between £165m and £185m.

Recently appointed chief executive Peter Plumb – the former Moneysupermarket.com boss who took the helm last September – said he planned to step up investment across the UK and its overseas markets. He said: “2017 was a record year for Just Eat. We helped 21.5 million customers order 172 million takeaways around the world, growing group revenue by 45 per cent to £546m.

“As the new CEO, I will be increasing our investment in brand, developing markets and delivery services that will be engineered to complement our thriving marketplace business by bringing more choice to our takeaway-loving customers.”

But the group cautioned competition was “intensifying” across some of its markets, such as Australia and New Zealand. In the UK, underlying earnings lifted 28 per cent to £155.4m for 2017.