Just Eat celebrates best UK sales performance for three years

The food delivery giant said UK and Ireland sales by gross transaction value rose by 9% in the first half of the year.

Just Eat notched its best UK sales performance for three years (Alamy/PA)

Britons prepared to splash out more on takeaways have helped Just Eat notch up its best UK sales performance for three years.

The takeaway delivery giant said UK and Ireland sales by gross transaction value (GTV) rose by 9%, or 6% on a constant currency basis, to 3.4 billion euros (£2.9 billion) in the first half of 2024.

It marked Just East Takeaway.com’s best performance in the region since 2021, although some of it was driven by higher food price inflation, with its average order value rising to 29.71 euros (£25.03) from 28.57 euros (£24.07) a year ago.

This helped offset a slip dip in order numbers, to 120 million in the first half from 121 million a year earlier, while lower delivery costs per order also helped underlying earnings in the UK and Ireland jump 64% to 92 million euros (£78 million).

Just Eat had seen UK and Ireland order numbers return to growth in the first quarter.

Order numbers have been under pressure as customer demand for takeaways has pulled back significantly since the pandemic.

The UK and Ireland business outshone the group’s other global divisions, with more difficult trading in North America and Europe impacting group revenues.

Overall, total revenues edged 1% lower to 2.6 billion euros (£2.2 billion), but Just Eat saw a 42% hike in underlying earnings to 203 million euros (£171 million).

On a bottom line basis, Just Eat reported pre-tax losses widening to 363 million euros (£306 million) from 317 million euros (£267 million) a year ago.

Just Eat founder and chief executive, Jitse Groen, said rising sales by GTV were “driven by growth of our partner base, expansion of our delivery coverage and significant technological advancements”.

“We are well on track to achieve our guidance for the full year,” he added.