Orders are down across the board at London-listed Just Eat Takeaway as the directors bank on gross transaction value (GTV) boosts to carry firm to profitability. 

In a trading update for the third quarter of 2024, Just Eat Takeaway reported a drop in orders in all of its markets including the UK and Ireland, North America, northern Europe and most dramatically in southern Europe and Australia and New Zealand, where orders were down 14%. 

All in all, orders globally dropped 6% to 211.1 million. 

GTV, however, grew slightly in its key markets of the UK, Ireland and Northern Europe, which represent around 60% of the company’s total orders. 

“We made good progress across our key strategic pillars, which we believe will drive growth,” said Jitse Groen, CEO of Just Eat Takeaway. 

“In line with our strategy to diversify, several new partnerships were launched across adjacencies like grocery, pharmacy and wellness in many of our markets.” 

Groen added that cost reductions and operational efficiencies were having a positive impact and “have allowed us to increase investments while maintaining our outlook”.  

The chief executive said the group is “well on track to deliver our guidance for the full year”. 

The board reiterated its guidance for 2024 of expanding constant currency GTV growth excluding North America of between 2% and 6% year-on-year. The company has also forecast an adjusted EBITDA of around €450m. 

In July, Just Eat Takeaway reported UK and Ireland revenue was up, however, poor performance in North America and southern Europe dragged sales down to drop by just under 1%. 

The food delivery firm has been slashing costs wherever possible in the past few years, selling off its stake in South American firm iFood in 2022 and cutting almost 2,000 jobs in 2023. 

The company had previously sought to structure its delivery network with employed couriers, but in an apparent U-turn it reclassified the bulk of them as independent contractors, cutting 1,700 delivery jobs in an effort to reduce expenses. 

In January, the company decided to end its delivery operations in Paris.

Shares in Just Eat Takeaway dropped around 3% at the opening of the markets on Wednesday to 1,002.2p. The stock has fallen by a sixth since the start of the year.

In August, Just Eat competitor Deliveroo posted its first-ever net profit since launch, swinging from an £83m loss to £1.3m.

Grocery delivery startup Zapp in October posted slashed losses from £91.9m to £23m for the year ended 2023.

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