Amsterdam-based food delivery giant Just Eat Takeaway.com, after its recent funding of €1.1B through an offering of convertible bonds, has now announced that its revenue for the year 2020 increased 54 per cent to €2.4B; adjusted EBITDA of €256M.
In a statement, Jitse Groen, CEO of Just Eat Takeaway.com, says, “2020 was an exceptional year for Just Eat Takeaway.com. Right before the completion of the merger between Just Eat and Takeaway.com, the world was hit by Covid-19. This brought unprecedented challenges to our restaurants, consumers as well as to our organisation and staff, but it also created tailwinds for our business.”
“In the second half of the year, we increased our investments into the legacy Just Eat business significantly, building on our position as one of the largest food delivery companies in the world. Our revenue grew 54 per cent in 2020, and we expect a further acceleration of our order growth in 2021 compared with last year,” he adds.
The food delivery giant has rapidly grown to become a leading online food delivery marketplace with operations in the UK, Germany, the Netherlands, Canada, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Denmark, France, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Luxembourg, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Spain, and Switzerland, as well as through partnerships in Colombia, and Brazil.
Here are 7 key takeaways from Just Eat Takeaway 2020 financial results.
54 per cent revenue growth
With the company’s growth strategy, the Covid-19 tailwinds, and the recent fundraising, Just Eat Takeaway reported three consecutive quarters of order growth acceleration in 2020. As a result, the company processed 588 million orders in 2020, representing a 42 per cent increase compared with 2019. The revenue on a combined basis grew by 54 per cent to €2.4B in 2020, compared with €1.6B in 2019.
Adjusted EBITDA on a combined basis for Just Eat Takeaway.com increased to €256M in 2020, up 18 per cent from €217M in 2019. The company claims that this improvement was mainly driven by a significant adjusted EBITDA growth in Germany, Canada, and the Netherlands.
Delivery orders growth year-on-year
In 2020, the share of delivery orders increased to 26 per cent from 2019’s 18 per cent, representing a year-on-year order growth of 107 per cent. In the fourth quarter of 2020, the company’s year-on-year growth rate of delivery orders reached over 163 per cent.
Just Eat Takeaway.com mentions in a statement, “Despite competitively low delivery fees, our delivery business generated positive revenue less fulfilment costs in 2020. Operational efficiency continuously improved and management deliberately implemented a price leadership strategy to win market share.” The company believes that only clear market leadership positions will lead to sufficient scale, high order density, and network effects which enable healthy delivery margins in the long-run.
Delivery orders in 2021
Just Eat Takeaway.com expects further order growth acceleration for the full year of 2021 compared with 2020. The company claims to be the market leader in the UK, in terms of orders. In the first two months of 2021, the UK orders were up 88 per cent and delivery orders were up more than 600 per cent compared with the first two months of 2020. Given recent trading and the investment programme, management expects to increase market share in the UK in 2021.
Business in the UK
In the UK, Just Eat Takeaway.com processed 179 million orders in 2020, representing a growth rate of 35 per cent compared with 2019, with strong growth in both marketplace and Delivery. However, the company says, delivery orders more than doubled year-on-year. “The growth was supported by our partnership with McDonald’s, as well as an exclusive partnership with Greggs, the UK’s leading bakery.”
In the second half of 2020, Delivery order growth reached 260 per cent and the growth of marketplace business was 31 per cent compared with the second half of 2019. GMV increased by 41 per cent year-on-year, outperforming order growth by 6 percentage points. This was driven by higher average order values during coronavirus lockdowns. Revenue grew by 42 per cent year-on-year to €725M in 2020 from €509M in 2019.
The revenue growth rate was higher than both orders and GMV growth rates, aided by the increase in the percentage of delivery orders to 15.2 per cent in 2020 from 7.6 per cent in 2019, with delivery orders generating more revenue per order than marketplace orders.
Adjusted EBITDA was €216M in 2020 compared with €213M in 2019, with the adjusted EBITDA margin falling to 30 per cent in 2020 from 42 per cent in 2019.
Orders growth in Germany
The company’s orders processed in Germany grew by 62 per cent in 2020 compared with 2019.
Revenue in Germany grew to €374M in 2020 from €205M in 2019, representing an 82 per cent increase, predominantly driven by an expansion of the delivery business.
Adjusted EBITDA increased significantly to €125M in 2020 from €19M in 2019. This reflected a 24 percentage points increase in the adjusted EBITDA margin. “Together with the impressive organic growth of our German business, the significant improvement in adjusted EBITDA was the result of the reduced marketing spend, which improved to 19 per cent of revenue in 2020 from 38 per cent of revenue in 2019,” according to a statement.
The Netherlands
In the Netherlands, the foodtech has processed 49 million orders in 2020, representing a growth rate of 30 per cent compared with 2019. Stay-at-home measures introduced due to coronavirus led to more orders from larger groups and families, which led to higher average order values.
The company’s revenue in the Netherlands grew 47 per cent to €174M in 2020 from €119M in 2019. The take rate increased because of a higher share of delivery orders which generally carry a higher commission. “We introduced a consumer delivery fee in February 2020 for delivery orders but remain the lowest-cost option for consumers.”
Adjusted EBITDA increased to €75M in 2020 from €64M in 2019. Adjusted EBITDA margin reduced by 11 percentage points year-on-year, reflecting the impact of higher share of delivery orders.
Revenue streams
a) Commission: it is typically a percentage of the GMV per order and are charged to restaurants on a per-order basis. Just Eat Takeaway.com sets standard commission rates for each of its markets and periodically assesses the commission rates. Commission revenue was €1.7B in 2020, representing 81 per cent of total revenue and a 344 per cent increase compared with 2019.
b) Consumer delivery fees: it is charged in some markets in connection with delivery orders. Consumer delivery fee revenue reached €231M in 2020, compared with zero in 2019. Delivery fees comprised 11 per cent of total revenue in 2020. The delivery fee revenue increase was mainly driven by the combination with Just Eat, the growth of delivery orders as well as the introduction of delivery fees in the Netherlands, Germany, Austria, and Belgium in February 2020.
c) Other revenue: Just Eat Takeaway.com generates other revenue in the form of online payment service fees, restaurant promoted placements (whereby restaurants are charged a fee in order to appear in a more prominent position in search results on Just Eat Takeaway.com’s applications), and sale of merchandise.
Payment services revenue is earned from consumers or restaurants that are charged a payment services fee by Just Eat Takeaway.com for processing online payments. Other revenue grew 257 per cent in 2020, reaching €157M compared with €44M in 2019. It is mainly driven by the combination with Just Eat as well as increased demand for restaurant promoted placements and strong growth in online payment revenue as more consumers adopted online payment methods.
About Just Eat Takeaway.com
Just Eat Takeaway.com is a leading global online food delivery marketplace outside China. Headquartered in Amsterdam, the company is focused on connecting consumers and restaurants through its platforms.
With nearly 250,000 connected restaurants, Just Eat Takeaway.com offers consumers a wide variety of food choices. It mainly collaborates with delivery restaurants. In addition, Just Eat Takeaway.com provides its proprietary restaurant delivery services for restaurants that do not deliver themselves.