Europe's largest meals delivery company, Just Eat Takeaway.com, swung to a small 2022 core profit on Wednesday and said it was targeting €225 million of core profit this year.
"This guidance includes additional investments... as well as wage costs inflation and takes into account an uncertain macro-economic environment," the company said, noting that most of the improvement would come towards the end of the year.
Adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) in 2022 stood at €19 million ($20.13 million), compared with a loss of €350 million in 2021.
The numbers were in line with a trading update the company issued on 18 January.
Jefferies said in a note that Wednesday's report showed most of the company's EBITDA, €313 million worth, came from Northern Europe. In North America, where it operates Grubhub and Skip The Dishes, EBITDA was €65 million. Southern countries posted losses.
Annual Highlights
Revenue was €5.56 billion, up from €4.50 billion a year earlier, and net loss was €5.67 billion, up from a loss of €1.04 billion.
The company took a book loss on the value of its stake in Brazil's iFood, which was sold for €1.5 billion, and impairments totalling €4.6 billion on the value of its US arm Grubhub, bought for $7.3 billion (€6.9 billion) in 2021 and Just Eat, bought for $7.8 billion (€7.3 billion) in 2020, in all-share deals.
Just Eat Takeaway shares closed at €20.58 on Monday (27 February), up 4.8% this year but well below the €100 they reached in late 2020 during COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns.
Just Eat repeated that it is trying to sell Grubhub but had not yet agreed on any deal.
The company ended the year with just over €2 billion in cash.
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