Online food delivery marketplace Just Eat has experienced a sharp drop in order numbers as home deliveries start to slow as the world exits a pandemic.
The company revealed a 7% fall in total orders in the first half of the year, compared with the same period last year.
The group’s first half losses narrowed to €134 million (£112 million) against losses of €189 million (£158 million) a year ago.
Just Eat said its “path to profitability is accelerating” as it strives to swing into profit as a top priority in 2022.
Just Eat sales in the UK and Ireland grew 10% to €658 million (£550.2 million), making it the app’s fastest growing market during the six-month period.
However, as Just Eat took a €3 billion (£2.51 billion) impairment charge as it wrote down the value of its US subsidiary Grubhub, which it acquired in 2021.
READ MORE: Just Eat founder is government’s new ‘cost of living business tsar’
Just Eat, which works with restaurant and takeaway partners in the UK, said it made “significant progress” in enhancing its grocery and convenience business.
It now has more than 1,000 UK locations operating on the platform, including partnerships with Asda and Tesco-owned duo One Stop and Booker.
Just Eat chief executive Jitse Groen said: “After a period of exceptional growth, Just Eat Takeaway.com is now two times larger than it was pre-pandemic.
“Whilst this growth required significant investment, we have continued to focus on executing our strategy to build and operate highly profitable food delivery businesses.”
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