Just Eat Takeaway.com (JET.L) performed slightly better than expected in the second quarter. This was stated by analyst Michael Roeg of Degroof Petercam Thursday.

The development of order growth and gross transaction value was slightly better than expected by Degroof Petercam, but probably broadly in line with the consensus.

The comments that the meal delivery company is gaining market share in the United Kingdom are reassuring, according to the analyst, and show that the investment programme is paying off. Roeg welcomed the outlook increase, but it was a limited increase. The meal delivery company aims for a year-round order growth of 45 percent, excluding the results in the US, where previously a 42 percent growth was targeted.

The expectations for the EBITDA will raise the eyebrows expected by the analyst.

“Firstly, because temporary costs and losses related to Grubhub are included that are not part of the consolidated results, and secondly because the meal delivery company has to adjust its own valuations for the whole of 2021 for the exact impact of Grubhub in the first half of 2021,” says Roeg.

CEO Jitse Groen noted that the adjusted EBITDA loss has now peaked, partly due to the investment program and restrictions around fees in the US and Canada.

According to the analyst, is of the view that the INCREASE of development in the short-term, limited only by the size of the start-up costs in the US, and marketing, among others, related to the European.

Degroof Petercam has a buying opinion on Just Eat Takeaway.com (JET.L) with a price target of 140.00 euro. The share fell by 1.1 percent to 74.46 euros on Thursday morning.

Just Eat Takeaway.com saw order growth decelerate significantly in the second quarter of this year,but the outlook increased. This was announced by the meal deliverer on Thursday pre-trade.

In the last quarter, orders on a pro forma basis grew by 37 percent to 279.7 million units. This includes, for the first time, the 14 percent order growth in the United States after the acquisition of Grubhub. Excluding the US, order growth was 47 percent to 212.4 million orders, in line with Deutsche Bank’s estimates. In the first quarter of 2021, growth was still 79 percent.

In particular, in the United Kingdom, where the meal delivery company is still gaining market share, orders rose sharply by 61 per cent last quarter, and in Germany, too, growth was a good 50 per cent. In the Netherlands the growth was 25 percent.

CEO Jitse Groen noted that the adjusted EBITDA loss has now peaked, partly due to the investment program and restrictions around fees in the US and Canada.

“As a result, we expect to return to profitability, while achieving significant growth in the second half of the year,” said the CEO.

Jitse Groen is optimistic about the investment program in the markets of Just Eat and as a result increased the outlook for this year. The meal delivery company aims for a year-round order growth of 45 percent, excluding the results in the US, where previously a 42 percent growth was targeted.

The gross value of the orders is Just Eat Takeaway.com [JET.L] now the gross transaction value. This value rose by 42 percent, or 40 percent at constant exchange rates, to 5.0 billion euros. Including the results from the US, the gross transaction value increased by 26 percent to 7.2 billion euros. For the whole of 2021, the meal delivery provider foresees a gross transaction value of 28 billion to 30 billion euros, including Grubhub.

Just Eat Takeaway.com [JET.L] confirmed its willingness to invest heavily again and placed more value on market share than on the modified EBITDA. The adjusted EBITDA margin is expected to be negative this year. The meal deliverer counts on a negative 1 to 1.5 percent of the gross transaction value.

The meal delivery company is still looking at which stock exchanges it wants to remain listed on after the acquisition of Grubhub. No decision has been taken yet.