On the other hand, the British company has so far distinguished itself by its penchant for moderation. Although it is not yet profitable, its reasoned growth - which is nonetheless spectacular - has enabled it to avoid the rut into which its competitors Just Eat and Delivery Hero have thrown themselves, both of which have bitten off more than they can chew.

That said, its expansion may have reached a peak. Deliveroo is facing a 3% drop in order volumes by 2023, which it is offsetting with a 6% price increase, resulting in 3% sales growth.

Gross margin is up 13%. Translation: it's the deliverers who are losing out, which the Group describes modestly as "efficiency gains in the distribution network".

Operations remain in the red, and Deliveroo burns through £38 million of non-retired stock option payments over the year. Adjusted EBITDA improved significantly, thanks primarily to much lower legal costs than last year, and to a lesser extent to a reduction in advertising budgets.

Hitherto rather cautious, the Board of Directors seems to have opted for a more aggressive stance over the last twelve months. The £300 million of free cash flow - which offered a considerable safety cushion - has been entirely redirected towards share buy-backs. Does this signal the prospect of a future takeover?

We also note that the number of active users of the platform has declined over the last two years, from 7.6 to 7.3 million. We can't hold this against the Group, since its profitability improved markedly over the period; however, we still need to confirm this dynamic.

Investors who continue to believe in the company should bear in mind that the business model remains, after all, highly unprofitable. For the record, Deliveroo is projecting an adjusted EBITDA margin of just 4% of its GTV - the total value of transactions carried out on its platform - in 2026.

If its growth assumptions hold true, this would represent around £300 million in adjusted EBITDA by that date, from which it would have to subtract between £80 and EUR100 million in capital expenditure, stock option payments - £65 million in 2023 - and the inevitable so-called "exceptional items".