Deliveroo is hopping towards profit for first time despite volume drop

Takeaways and grocery delivery group Deliveroo is on track to make its first ever profit, after seeing its annual pre-tax losses tumble from £230.6million to just £10.9million.

At its annual results, founder and chief Will Shu said that Deliveroo had made “significant progress” last year on its road to profitability and that the business should turn cash flow positive this year. Deliveroo was founded 11 years ago and has yet to make a profit.

Aside from a sharp drop in its losses, Deliveroo saw its revenues rise 3% to £2billion despite the cost-of-living crisis. Although order volumes dropped 3% to 290.2million, that was offset by a 6% increase in the amount of money customers on average spent per order.

Shu said that while the consumer spending environment is still fragile, it is seeing signs of stabilisation. Deliveroo expects its advertising business and its fledgling home shopping division, which enables customers to order from florists, DIY stores, pharmacies and other retailers, to fuel its growth this year.

“2023 was a good year for Deliveroo and I am proud of what we have delivered financially, operationally and for our consumers,” he said.” We have clear strategic priorities and initiatives in place to achieve our medium term targets, and I am confident in our ability to deliver continued profitable growth."