(Bloomberg) — Deliveroo Plc reported a narrower than expected loss in its first year as a publicly-listed company, but additional costs still caused growing losses at the food delivery company.
The London-based firm said that adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization was a loss of 131 million pounds ($173 million) over 2021, compared to an 11 million pound loss in 2020, after the company boosted marketing and technology investment.
Analysts surveyed by Bloomberg had forecast an adjusted loss of 159.4 million pounds. The earnings, published Thursday, are its first annual financial performance since an initial public offering in March last year.
“The macro outlook is fairly uncertain for many businesses. Our marketplace will face headwinds,” Chief Executive Officer Will Shu said in an interview. “That’s coming from inflationary pressures and a lot of the volatility of the situation that’s happening in eastern Europe, so as a result of that we’re being pretty cautious in our GTV guidance.”
The company said it aimed to reach breakeven on an adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization basis between second-half 2023 and first-half 2024, with its adjusted ebitda margin reaching 4% by 2026.
Shu said he didn’t anticipate needing to raise more funding before reaching breakeven. Deliveroo reported having 1.3 billion pounds in cash and cash equivalents at the end of 2021
Shares of Deliveroo climbed as much as 8.4% Thursday morning, after trading down 44% this year through Wednesday.
Key Insights
- The company offered guidance that it expected gross transaction value to rise 15% to 25% in 2022, after recording a 70% rise last year in constant currency
- Deliveroo’s 2026 profitability target is “strong” and “should raise broker estimates,” Jefferies analyst Giles Thorne wrote in a report.
- Sales for 2021 rose 57% to 1.8 billion pounds, roughly in line with estimates
- Deliveroo also forecast that its 2022 adjusted ebitda as a ratio of GTV would be between -1.5% to -1.8%, improving from -2% across last year
- Gross profits rose 43% in 2021 to 497 million pounds with a 7.5% gross profit margin of GTV. The company had previously forecast a gross profit margin ratio of 7.5% to 7.75%
Get More
- DoorDash Considered Takeover of Deliveroo, Sunday Times Says
- A $6 Billion Wipeout Was an Omen for Food Delivery Stocks
- Deliveroo Partners With Waitrose for 10-Minute Hummus Orders
- Deliveroo Surprise Strength in Orders Provide Post-IPO Boost
(Updates with more context, CEO interview, analyst note and shares)
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