Just Eat food fight with Uber and Deliveroo to take chunk out of earnings

Online food firm Just Eat has warned that its full-year performance will be dented by investment in fighting off rivals and expansion into Latin America, despite revenue being on course to shoot up.

The group said it expects annual earnings to come in towards the lower end of its £165 million to £185 million range.

This, the firm said, reflects “investments in our dynamic LatAm markets in addition to our delivery initiatives”.

Just Eat is moving into the delivery space as it attempts to compete with Deliveroo and Uber, firms that have been muscling in on its territory of late.

Speculation that Uber is in early talks to buy rival Deliveroo has also recently hit Just Eat’s shares.

Nevertheless, Just Eat’s annual revenues are expected to come in at the top end of its £740 million to £770 million range after soaring 41% in the third quarter to £195 million.

Just Eat chief executive Peter Plumb said: “The group has delivered another strong quarter as we helped our 97,000+ restaurant partners serve over 54 million takeaways to millions of hungry customers.

“Our delivery expansion plans are on track, ensuring we give customers exactly what they want, and I’m very pleased with the progress we are making against our strategic objectives.”

Group orders in the three months to September 30 grew 27% to 54.7 million, with more than 57% made through its app.

UK orders were up 16% 30.3 million, which included its first ever weekend with more than one million orders.