Deliveroo Surprise Strength in Orders Provide Post-IPO Boost

Ivan Levingston, Bloomberg News

A food delivery courier for Deliveroo Plc cycles with a customer order from a Franprix supermarket, operated by Casino Guichard Perrachon SA, in Paris, France, on Friday, July 9, 2021. Deliveroo and the Casino supermarket group renewed their delivery partnership and will offer product deliveries from over 1,500 shops in France. Photographer: Benjamin Girette/Bloomberg , Bloomberg

(Bloomberg) -- Deliveroo Plc saw the value of orders on its platform grow faster than expected in the fourth quarter, driving the company to hit the top end of its full-year guidance and providing a lift as its stock languishes since going public last year.

Full-year gross transaction value rose 70% year-on-year in constant currency, the edge of the previously projected 60% to 70% range, the London-based food delivery company said in a statement Thursday. Fourth-quarter GTV gained 36% to 1.7 billion pounds ($2.3 billion), while analysts surveyed by Bloomberg had expected gains of 28.3%.

U.K. and Ireland led the company’s performance, with the value of transactions rising 71% across 2021, as the firm said it gained U.K. market share. In the international segment, orders outpaced transaction value as the average order size decreased.

Key Insights

Orders in the past quarter were 80.8 million -- a sequential gain of 10% -- while GTV per order rose 1% in constant currency to 21.4 pounds.
The company confirmed its full-year guidance for gross profit margins of 7.5% to 7.75% as a ratio of transaction value.
On-demand grocery gained to represent 8% of GTV in second-half 2021, up from 7% in the first half.
“Despite a challenging backdrop, we continued to strengthen our customer proposition, widen our customer base and execute against our strategy,” Deliveroo Chief Executive Officer Will Shu said in a statement.
In October, Deliveroo raised projections for 2021 growth in a bet that diners would continue to order meals to their home amid a reopening of economies.
Competitor Just Eat Takeaway.com NV saw order growth slow on its platform in the fourth quarter, as it launches a trial partnership with U.K. grocer Asda Group Ltd.
The company will report full-year 2021 results on March 17.

Market Context

Deliveroo shares have fallen about 56% since its market debut last March. It rose in London trading on Wednesday to close up 1.3%.
Jefferies analyst Giles Thorne said in a note Thursday that “with the International segment missing in the quarter and no 2022 guidance to frame whether the miss will flow through, the skittish tape for online food delivery names negates a bump in the equity today.”

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