Deliveroo orders continue to rise but diners spend less on food deliveries
Deliveroo has seen its order numbers continue to swell, despite shoppers adding fewer dishes to baskets on the other side of Covid lockdowns.
In a trading update published on Tuesday, the food delivery titan said growth in orders stood at 18 per cent year-on-year.
Orders hit 82.4m in the first quarter of the year, up on 69.6m last year.
Gross transaction value (GTV) per order dropped seven per cent, with an average spend of £21.7. This was compared to tough comparatives in the first quarter of 2021 when customers were not dining out amid lockdowns and spent an average of £23.2.
GTV jumped 11 per cent to £1.7bn, compared to the first quarter of 2021.
The London-based company’s first quarter performance was in line with guidance provided in March, Will Shu, founder and CEO of Deliveroo, said.
The firm had delivered solid growth, against a tough comparison base in the comparable period last year, “when many of our markets were still experiencing lockdown restrictions,” the co-founder added.
However, Shu warned that consumer behaviour “may moderate during the year”, with Brits facing cost spikes across the board.
He added: “We remain confident in our ability to adapt financially to any further changes in the macroeconomic environment. We continue to be excited about the opportunity ahead and our ability to capitalise on it.”
Deliveroo anticipated its adjusted EBITDA for 2022 would be a loss between 1.5 per cent and 1.8 per cent as a percentage of GTV. This would be an improvement against a two per cent loss for the full year 2021 and a 3.2 per cent loss in the second half of 2021.
Management’s expectations were reflective of “current uncertainties,” with the company citing inflationary pressures, post-Covid consumer behaviour, and the broader geopolitical and economic impacts of the conflict in Ukraine.
With the company continuing to be unprofitable, Dan Thomas, senior analyst at Third Bridge, said the big question was “how long investors will tolerate such a situation in a more demanding funding environment.”
Shares dipped by some three per cent when markets opened on Tuesday morning.