(Reuters) -German online takeaway food company Delivery Hero said on Thursday it expected growth to accelerate in the current quarter, driven by a recovery in its Asian market, sending its shares up more than 5% in early Frankfurt trade.
Third-quarter gross merchandise value, a common metric for delivery firms measuring the total value of all goods sold, grew 7% on a like-for-like basis at constant currency rates and excluding inflation, to 12.2 billion euros ($14.2 billion).
The performance was broadly in line with analysts’ forecasts of 12.25 billion euros in a company-provided poll.
“Early signs from Q4 are encouraging, especially thanks to the turnaround in Korea, and we’re expecting to finish the year with return to growth in Asia and faster group GMV growth in the final quarter,” CEO Niklas Oestberg said in a statement.
In Asia, GMV declined by 3% in the quarter. However, orders in South Korea returned to growth during October, the company said, and it expected the region to return to growth in the current quarter.
The use of artificial intelligence to tailor the app to customers helped the company cut selling and marketing costs, boosting profitability, it said.
Selling, administrative and marketing expenses as a percentage of GMV declined to 6.0% in the third quarter from 7.2% in the first quarter of 2023, the company said.
The company’s quick commerce business, delivering groceries, household goods, and items such as flowers and pharmaceuticals, swung to its first ever quarterly profit in the third quarter, Delivery Hero added, on track to break even for the full year.
The business represents 7% of the company’s GMV.
($1 = 0.8575 euros)
(Reporting by Linda Pasquini in Gdansk; Editing by Matt Scuffham and Jan Harvey)
