Just Eat Takeaway's Q1 orders 'disappoint', shares fall

(Reuters) - Just Eat Takeaway reported first-quarter orders below expectations on Wednesday, sending its shares 5% lower.

Favoured by investors during the pandemic, shares in delivery firms have moved off those highs in the past two years amid a rampant churn rate.

However, they have recouped some losses this year thanks to a rapid margin recovery on efficiency gains and cost savings, as well as greater frequency of orders, helped by their broader offerings that include groceries and retail.

Just Eat reported its total orders of 214.2 million in the first-quarter were lower than the company-provided consensus of 217.1 million, as quoted by Deutsche Bank and the 220.2 million expected by the brokerage.

"Just Eat Takeaway continues to disappoint on orders, which becomes the name of the game in a disinflationary period," said Bryan Garnier analyst Clement Genelot in an e-mailed comment.

It posted a gross transaction value (GTV) of 6.55 billion euros ($6.95 billion) for the first three months of 2024, matching analysts' average estimate in a company-provided consensus, according to Deutsche Bank.

Its GTV grew by 11% in key UK and Ireland markets and by 5% in Northern Europe, another major one for the company, offsetting an 11% drop in North America and a 15% decrease in Southern Europe and Australia, the company said.

"Half of the group's business remains down in the double digits and affects the group's growth/cash generation profile," Genelot added.

Just Eat said its constant currency GTV growth excluding North America of 3% in the quarter was within the 2024 guidance range of 2% to 6% increase.

The group said it was still exploring a partial or full sale of its struggling U.S. unit Grubhub.

On Monday, it announced its exit from New Zealand.

The group confirmed its financial outlook announced in late February.

($1 = 0.9425 euros) (This story has been refiled to remove the word 'at' in paragraph 5)

(Reporting by Michal Aleksandrowicz in Gdansk; Editing by Jamie Freed, Savio D'Souza and David Evans)