By Paul Sandle
LONDON (Reuters) - Online takeaway food service Just Eat (LONDON:JE) said revenue would grow to more than 200 million pounds ($298 million) this year, maintaining the momentum that saw it beat market expectations in its first full-year results since it listed in April.
The British company, which floated in London at 260 pence a share, said it processed more than 60 million orders for 45,700 restaurants in 2014, led by demand for pizza and Italian food more generally.
Chief Financial Officer Mike Wroe hailed the results, which saw revenue rise 62 percent to 157 million pounds and underlying core earnings jumping 131 percent to 32.6 million pounds, both beating market expectations.
"Strong trading momentum has continued into 2015," he told reporters on Tuesday.
The company's shares gained 1.1 percent to 367 pence by 1015 GMT, valuing the business at 2.1 billion pounds.
A number of companies are competing for a bigger share of the fast-growing online takeaway business, including Foodpanda, backed by Berlin-based Rocket Internet AG, U.S. company GrubHub, and European player Delivery Hero.
Analyst Nick Batram at Peel Hunt said Just Eat had delivered an impressive set of maiden results.
"The positive momentum in the business is not unexpected and we see this continuing in the short term," he said.
His longer-term concerns were over prices in Britain and increased competition as more branded restaurants awoke to the value of online ordering and delivery.
Wroe, however, said there was still had plenty of room to grow, with less than 30 percent of all British takeaway delivery orders made online in 2014 and much less in most of its 13 geographies, which include Brazil, Mexico and France.