The
takeaway-ordering website Just Eat plans to move upmarket and take on
Deliveroo and UberEats by working with branded restaurant chains in the
UK.
Just
Eat tends to work with independent local restaurants such as curry
houses, while Deliveroo and UberEats largely focus on more upmarket
restaurants and chains.
But
interim chief executive Paul Harrison said on Thursday that Just Eat
was running “some early pilots” with unnamed “casual dining chains”.
He
said he wanted “to ensure our customers have no reason to go anywhere
other than Just Eat” for a takeaway. He added that Just Eat was
operating in “pretty competitive markets” and that it was now “up
against Uber, one of the best-funded companies in the world”.
He
spoke as Just Eat released half-year results and raised its
expectations for full-year revenues, but left its profit outlook
unchanged. The company said it would spend the extra money on
initiatives such as ”increased collaboration with branded UK
restaurants”. Mr Harrison denied the competition from
Deliveroo and
UberEats was costing it customers but said there was “evidence that
chains want to provide food to our customers’ homes”.
UberEats has
recently started McDonald’s deliveries, which he said was “very direct
competition”.
He
declined to identify the chains it was working with, saying: “I’m not
going to namecheck the chains. These are early pilots; some will
resonate and some will not.”
A
key difference between Just Eat versus Deliveroo and UberEats is that
the former does not provide delivery drivers. Mr Harrison said Just Eat
would not be supplying drivers and that some of the chains it was
working with offered delivery themselves, while others had been
introduced to “third-party delivery companies”.
For
the half-year to June 30, Just Eat reported a rise in revenues of 44
per cent to £247m, ahead of consensus expectations of £232m, according
to Numis analysts. The company said it expected full-year revenues to be
£500m-£515m, up from £480m-£495m.
Pre-tax
profits rose 46 per cent to £49.5m. Last year, Just Eat raised the
commission it charges existing UK restaurant clients by 1 percentage
point to 13 per cent.
Share
awards to staff and other long-term employee incentives doubled to
£3.3m, which Mr Harrison said was required to attract top software
engineers and other technical staff. “We compete to attract the best
talent in the tech world, so in order to do that we have to offer
compelling compensation packages, including stock-based compensation,”
he said.
The
results indicate that Just Eat’s momentum has been unharmed by a series
of management changes. In just over a year, it has lost its chief
financial officer and chief executive, while its chairman died. Its plan
to buy UK rival Hungryhouse is facing an in-depth probe by competition
regulators over concerns that the combination will lead to worse terms
for the restaurants that use the online sites to reach customers.
Provisional findings are expected in late August or September, with a
final decision towards the end of October.