Just Eat's (JE.) shares fell after the delivery service moved from a £91m pre-tax profit in 2016 to a £76m loss in 2017. This was mainly the result of impairment charges taken on the goodwill relating to acquisitions in Australia and New Zealand, along with payments made to SkipTheDishes' management team following Just Eat’s purchase of the North American business. Strip out these costs and the group would have reported a £104m pre-tax profit.
New chief executive Peter Plumb maintains that this was a “record year” for Just Eat, with 172m orders placed by 21.5m customers – a 22 per cent year-on-year rise – across 82,300 restaurants. The objective is still to invest more in delivery services in the UK, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand, as well as expand into developing markets. Analysts at Numis think this would allow the company to grow market share, as well as insulate it from growing competition in the food delivery market.
Analysts at Peel Hunt expect pre-tax profit of £213m in 2018, giving EPS of 24p, compared with £149m and 16.8p in 2017.
| JUST EAST (JE.) | ||||
| ORD PRICE: | 792.4p | MARKET VALUE: | £5.39bn | |
| TOUCH: | 792.4-792.8p | 12-MONTH HIGH: | 906p | LOW: 498p |
| DIVIDEND YIELD: | nil | PE RATIO: | na | |
| NET ASSET VALUE: | 106p* | NET CASH: | £213m† | |
| Year to 31 Dec | Turnover (£m) | Pre-tax profit (£m) | Earnings per share (p) | Dividend per share (p) |
| 2013** | 97 | 10.2 | 1.5 | na |
| 2014 | 157 | 57.4 | 9.8 | nil |
| 2015 | 248 | 34.6 | 3.8 | nil |
| 2016 | 376 | 91.3 | 10.7 | nil |
| 2017 | 546 | -76.0 | -15.2 | nil |
| % change | +45 | - | - | - |
| Ex-div: | na | |||
| Payment: | na | |||
*Includes intangible assets of £639m, or 94p a share **Pre-IPO figures †Excludes £51.5m of cash to be paid to restaurant partners | ||||
