Just Eat relies on delivery to avoid red numbers in Spain due to the slowdown in orders

Just Eat Spain SLU, the company that channels the business of the food delivery platform in Spain, peaked in 2022. Then, the commissions it earned for acting as an intermediary between the restaurant and the end customer allowed the company to close a record year with 86 million euros in revenue and 7.2 million in profits – also supported by an injection of 12.6 million from its Dutch head Takeaway.com Central Core BV.

Two balance sheets later, the photograph offered by its accounts reflects a substantial change in its business model. The last ones that have been deposited in the Commercial Registry, those that correspond to 2024, reflect a result of 1.1 millionslightly lower than the previous one, and a turnover of 76 million, below the previous one – already in decline – of 82 million. From Just Eat Spain they summarize it in a slowdown in orders on their platform: “The variation in income is in line with the total decrease in orders compared to the previous year (-7%). This variation is almost entirely due to the reduction in orders marketplace (your platform), while orders delivery remain constant” they quote in the management report that accompanies their accounts.

The company operates with a hybrid model that combines two ways: it charges a commission to its partners for each order processed on its platform and, in addition, it offers a delivery service for those restaurants that do not have their own delivery drivers. However, the decline in the business is concentrated in its main activity. Income from commissions from order management – the model in which the restaurant makes delivery – has gone from 63.7 to 41.8 million in two years. In contrast, the line delivery managed by Just Eat has followed the opposite path and its income has grown from 9.8 to 32.4 million in that same period.

In line with previous years, the roadmap drawn up by the Spanish subsidiary of Just Eat involves increasing profitability while consolidating its business where it already carries out its activities. Likewise, the company ensures that it has the financial support of the group, as well as have a business plan to be profitable for the next few years. It should be remembered that its parent company has been absorbed this year by the Dutch company Prosus in exchange for 4.3 billion dollars (about 3.7 billion euros in the current conversion).

In its report, Just Eat Spain points out that the profits obtained in recent years have been used to compensate for the red numbers recorded years ago. In the corresponding to 2024, in line with the previous one, the company increases the contributions from the parent company to 114.3 million after having received injections of 1.9 and 1.8 million in the last two years. This is an amount that depends on the net result that the subsidiary obtains each year.

In the chapter on contingencies, Just Eat Spain highlights the appeal presented before the Provincial Court of Barcelona last September, after its accounts, after the Commercial Courts of Barcelona dismissed the lawsuit in which it accuses its rival Glovo of unfair competition and hiring false self-employed workers and claims up to 295 million euros in damages.