Just Eat back in the black but warns over challenging backdrop

The company said it was adjusted EBITDA positive in Q3, "materially" ahead of prior guidance at the beginning of the year, and is on track to meet its long-term target margins. Just Eat said its focus on profitability delivered material improvements to revenue per order, delivery costs per order and overheads and opex.

Total gross transaction value (GTV) ticked up 2% during the quarter amid higher prices, but total orders fell 11%.

Just Eat said that in Northern Europe, Germany remained the most important growth driver, with year-to-date positive order growth. Meanwhile, the market backdrop in the UK was less favourable against a strong comparative period, but the UK and Ireland achieved further material improvements in profitability.

In North America, Grubhub’s partnership with Amazon showed encouraging early results, it said.

Just Eat also said it will hold an extraordinary general meeting on 18 November regarding the sale of its 33% stake in Brazilian food ordering app iFood to Prosus.

Chief executive officer Jitse Groen said: "After two years of significant investment following the merger and the pandemic, I am pleased that Just Eat Takeaway.com has returned to profitability earlier than anticipated.

"Driven by a wide range of initiatives, we continue to improve our operational efficiency whilst simultaneously enhancing the user experience and consumer proposition. Although the consumer backdrop will likely be challenging due to the macro-economic environment, Just Eat Takeaway.com owns many leadership positions of significant scale, is well-capitalised through the sale of the iFood stake and is therefore well-positioned to capture profitable future growth."