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(Alliance News) - Just Eat Takeaway.com NV on Wednesday launched a new share buyback programme, as it raised earnings guidance for 2023 but lowered top-line expectations.
Just Eat shares were up 6.2% to 1,103.00 pence in London on Wednesday. The stock has had a rough ride over the past 12 months, over which it remains down 16%.
The Amsterdam-based only food delivery marketplace said it expects to achieve positive adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation of EUR310 million for the full year, raised from previous guidance of EUR275 million. Adjusted Ebitda amounted to just EUR19 million in 2022, but this was swung from a loss of EUR350 million in 2021. In the first half of 2023, adjusted Ebitda was positive EUR143 million.
At the pretax level, Just Eat recorded a loss of EUR5.67 billion last year, widened from EUR1.04 billion in 2021, due by impairment losses of EUR4.6 billion for US operation Grubhub.
Also on Wednesday, Just Eat said it expects free cash flow, before changes in working capital, to be about break-even in the second half of this year and then turn positive thereafter. Previously, the company had guided for that measure to be positive only from mid-2024.
In the third quarter of the year, gross transaction value was EUR6.47 billion, down 7% from EUR6.92 billion a year before and down 3% at constant currency. GTV was up 6% in Northern Europe and 5% in the UK & Ireland, but down 11% in both North America and in Southern Europe & ANZ, all at constant currency.
For the first nine months of the year, GTV was EUR19.69 billion, down 7% from EUR21.11 billion and down 5% at constant currency.
For all of 2023, Just Eat said it expects GTV to be down by 4% at constant exchange rates. Previously, its guidance was for GTV movement at reported exchange rates to be between negative 4% and positive 2%.
Just Eat said it "continues to actively explore the partial or full sale of Grubhub".
"There can be no certainty that any such strategic actions will be agreed or what the timing of such agreements will be," it said, using the exact same words as it had in its half-year results statement back in July.
Just Eat bought Chicago-based Grubhub back in June 2021 for USD7.3 billion, about EUR6.9 billion, soon after the merger of Just Eat and Takeaway.com.
The company also announced the launch of a new share buyback worth EUR150 million. The repurchased shares will be used either for share-based compensation or will be cancelled to reduce capital, it said.
The buyback will start on Wednesday and be completed by September 30 of next year. Just Eat said that, based on its closing share price on Tuesday, the buyback will remove 5.7% of its share from circulation, within the authorised limit of 10%.
"The majority of our business has returned to GTV growth in the third quarter with particular strong momentum in Northern Europe and the UK and Ireland segments," commented Chief Executive Officer Jitse Groen.
"Within the UK and Ireland we continue to invest significantly whilst at the same time increasing profitability. Although the recovery of North America is on a slower trajectory, we are satisfied that this segment too is rapidly becoming cash flow neutral."
By Tom Waite, Alliance News editor
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