Just Eat Share News (JE.)

(Sharecast News) - Online food delivery service Just Eat posted a jump in first-quarter group orders on Friday but a slowdown in the UK. In the three months to 31 March 2019, group orders rose 21% on the year on a like-for-like basis to £61.4m while reported and constant currency group revenues were up 28% to £227.9m. Analysts had been expecting order growth of 23.2%.Outside the UK, orders grew 40% to £29.5m, driven by good growth in Canada, Italy, Switzerland and Ireland. Just Eat said Canada remains the standout performer, delivering strong growth in the period, with SkipTheDishes on track to report its first full year underlying EBITDA profit.Order growth in the UK was less impressive, however, at 7.4% to £31.9m, down from 24% growth in the same period a year ago and below market expectations of 9.6%. The UK market was hit by a strong comparator, including Hungryhouse before integration and expected attrition of their customer base, the unseasonably warm weather in February and Easter falling entirely in the second quarter."We would expect an improvement in UK order growth during the remainder of the year," the company said.Just Eat reiterated its guidance of full year 2019 revenue of between £1bn and £1.1bn and underlying EBITDA of £185m to £205m.Interim chief executive officer Peter Duffy said: "Just Eat is on the right path to be the leading hybrid marketplace for online food delivery and we are confident in the delivery of our strategy."Many of our international markets have performed very well in the period although, as expected, we saw softer UK order growth in the quarter. We are making good progress and continue to execute at pace."At 0940 BST, the shares were down 2.4% at 730.40p.Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell, said: "As you would expect its excuses are made to order and ready to go - the comparison with a strong performance a year before, warm weather in February and Easter coming late."What it doesn't mention is the increasingly competitive landscape for online takeaways with Deliveroo and Uber Eats making plays for market share."The company has already responded to the competitive threat with a change of model, investing in delivery services at the expense of short-term profitability. But this alienated some investors who liked the strategy of simply providing an online platform for local takeaways, and thus avoiding having to spend that much cash."Plumb's replacement is likely to have plenty on their plate, including activist pressure from US shareholder Cat Rock Capital despite a nascent recovery in the company's share price so far in 2019."