LONDON (Alliance News) - Just Eat PLC on Monday said Chief Executive Officer Peter Plumb is stepping down with immediate effect, and it is expecting significant revenue growth for both 2018 and the year ahead.
Shares in Just Eat were up 4.8% at 661.99 pence on Monday morning.
The online takeaway platform has promoted Chief Customer Officer Peter Duffy into an interim CEO role while it seeks a permanent replacement.
Plumb had came under fire in December from 2% shareholder Cat Rock Capital, which called for the sale of Just Eat's non-core assets and adoption of a three-year financial plan.
Just Eat's share price took a blow in December after a press report that Uber Technologies Inc was in talks to buy Roofoods Ltd, owner of Deliveroo, and combine it with Uber Eats to create a serious rival to Just Eat.
Cat Rock pointed to Just Eat's resulting ejection from the FTSE 100 index as another cause for concern.
Plumb, however, was positive about Just Eat's future, saying on Monday: "2018 was another year of strong growth for the group. The business is in good health, and now is the right time for me to step aside and make way for a new leader for the next exciting wave of growth."
Just Eat expects to report annual revenue of approximately GBP780 million for 2018, up 43% from GBP546.3 million in 2017.
The company is also expecting underlying earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation, and amortization of between GBP172 million and GBP174 million, up from GBP164 million in 2017.
Orders for 2018 are forecast at 221 million, up from 172 million the year before.
These 2018 results include Just Eat's orders and revenue in Mexico, as well as its earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation, and amortization in both Brazil and Mexico.
Just Eat's operations in these two counties are managed by its joint venture partner, iFood, in which it holds a 32% stake.
Moving forward, Just Eat predicted that its 2019 revenue will be in the GBP1.0 billion to GBP1.1 billion range, an increase of up to 41%. It also anticipates underlying Ebitda for 2019 in the GBP185 million to GBP205 million range.
However, the company is expecting an Ebitda loss of around GBP80 million to GBP100 million under iFood's latest plan.
"In 2019, we will leverage the improvements we have made in our marketplace business to drive order and revenue growth, while we now also expect to grow marketplace Ebitda margins year on year. Furthermore, we anticipate 2019 will see our Canadian business, SkipTheDishes, report its first full year profit, confirming the route to profitability for delivery services," Just Eat said.
