Just Eat Takeaway.com has seen its shares come under pressure after quarterly sales failed to deliver for investors, despite a solid performance in the UK.
The takeaway delivery giant revealed a 6% drop in total orders to 214.2 million in the first three months of 2024.
This marked a slight improvement on the 7% fall in the previous three months, but was still worse than expected, sending shares down 6% at one stage in Wednesday trading.
The UK and Ireland remained a bright spot for the group, with order numbers returning to growth, up 1% at 60.3 million, after seven consecutive quarters of decline.
Order numbers have been under pressure as customer demand for takeaways has pulled back sharply since the height of the pandemic.
The company said sales by gross transaction value (GTV) – a key measure for the sector – fell 2% group-wide.
GTV sales on a constant currency basis were 7% higher in the UK and Ireland and 4% up in northern Europe, but this was offset by a 13% drop in the southern Europe, Australia and New Zealand region, as well as a 10% fall in North America.
Just Eat said it is still looking at plans to sell its Chicago-based subsidiary Grubhub.
This follows activist investor pressure to offload Grubhub – a US delivery company that it bought in 2021.
Just Eat also announced on Monday that it is to pull out of New Zealand “in the coming weeks”.
Jitse Groen, chief executive of Just Eat Takeaway.com, said: “Just Eat Takeaway.com started the year well, with the acceleration of GTV growth in UK and Ireland and our continued momentum in northern Europe in the first quarter of 2024.
“We are excited that the investments in our business are paying off, and we are looking forward to the rest of the year.”