Just Eat’s appetite grows as group processed orders worth more than £1bn

Revenues climbed 62 per cent to £157m in 2014 as the group processed orders worth more than £1bn, while underlying earnings more than doubled from £14.1m.

The group joined the stock market last April in the biggest UK technology flotation for eight years. Shares rose 2 per cent on the results as the company raised sales expectations for 2015 to more than £200m.

Just Eat is now valued at more than £2bn, up from just under £1.5bn at the time of its market debut.

Pre-tax profits rose from £10.2m to £57.4m reflecting both higher earnings as well as gains on the disposal of French and Brazilian operations.

Chief executive David Buttress said: “It’s been another excellent year for Just Eat.

“Our results demonstrate how we are successfully building market-leading positions as more consumers discover the ease of use and wide choice of cuisines that our marketplaces for takeaway food offer.” The firm makes its money by connecting consumers to more than 45,700 takeaway restaurants, operating in markets around the world. It has 8.1 million active users. The number of orders last year rose 52 per cent to 61.2 million.

It said there had been a continuing shift to the use of mobile phones by customers, with these now accounting for nearly 61 per cent of orders in the UK.

Mr Buttress said: “Looking forward, we must capitalise on our clear leadership positions both in established markets such as the UK and in large, developing markets such as France, Brazil and Spain, markets of significant scale but in which online ordering is still at an early stage.”

Last year revenues in the UK were up 66 per cent to £114.1m with underlying earnings up 80 per cent to £45.9m. Orders were up 56 per cent to 45.5 million.