LONDON/FRANKFURT (dpa-AFX) - Investors are betting on a turnaround to profitability for food delivery services. The impetus for this came in midweek from British provider Just Eat Takeaway, which is expected to have made it into the black last year. The Lieferando parent reported an operating profit. Although revenues were poor, this catapulted the shares on the London Stock Exchange up by eleven percent in early trading on Wednesday.

This also lifted investor sentiment in other sector stocks: Above all, the papers of the competitor Delivery Hero pulled along, gaining more than five percent recently. But the shares of the cooking box supplier Hellofresh were also among the sought-after stocks in the German MDax index, rising by one percent. Deliveroo, meanwhile, saw its share price rise by three percent in London.

According to RBC expert Sherri Malek, Just Eat Takeaway once again missed expectations with its gross transaction volume, but its operational performance, meanwhile, was compelling. "Profitability continues to enjoy higher priority than growth," the analyst then summed up. In the completed year, an adjusted operating profit (Ebitda) of about 16 million euros should have been achieved after a shortfall of about 350 million in the previous year, Just Eat Takeaway reported.

Among investors, this then overshadowed critical voices on the development of transaction volumes in the day-to-day business. "Demand remains weak and so this year's gross transaction volume misses expectations," said William Woods of Bernstein Research. He, too, stressed the importance of profitability, which was the really big surprise. According to Woods, analysts on average had expected the company to still post an operating loss (Ebitda) of 100 million euros.

For the current year, Just Eat Takeaway is now targeting an adjusted operating profit (Ebitda) of around 225 million euros - there were also convinced voices on this. According to Bernstein expert Woods, this target is set twice as high as the analyst average. Giles Thorne of Jefferies also put his finger on this, saying that average expectations would have to rise significantly. The target does not compromise on growth investment or economic headwinds.

Since high inflation has caused interest rates to rise rapidly, investors are paying more attention to profitability in growth stocks from the Internet sector. For a long time, Delivery Hero was also criticized for not paying enough attention to costs. Since the summer, however, it has become clear that improving profitability is also a priority here. From its record low in May 2022, the Delivery Hero share price has more than doubled./tih/ngu/jha/