Deliveroo, the food delivery giant, has seen a boost in sales and a slight increase in order numbers in the UK and Ireland.
The company believes its annual profit will be slightly higher than previously expected. It reported a gross transaction value (GTV), which includes the total cost of people's food baskets plus delivery fees, of £1.1 billion for the last quarter in the UK and Ireland.
This is a 7% increase compared to the same period last year. Order numbers in the region have also increased slightly, up 1% to 40.9 million.
This signals an improvement after a slowdown in takeaway orders over 2022. Despite the cost-of-living crisis causing a decrease in consumer demand, Deliveroo has seen its international performance recover in recent months.
The company, which operates in 10 countries including Italy, Hong Kong and the United Arab Emirates, saw a 4% rise in total basket value for the latest quarter. The company's founder and CEO, Will Shu, said: "I'm really proud of the team's execution in the fourth quarter, including launching our retail offering."
Millions blocked from iconic iPhone app forever after 10 years in major shutdownMeanwhile, they introduced a new shopping area on their app last November. This allowed customers to purchase non-food items, such as toys and beauty products.
Mr Shu added to his statement, saying: "We delivered a good performance in UK and Ireland and saw international return to GTV growth, with encouraging trends in several markets. As we saw ongoing signs of stabilisation in consumer behaviour in the quarter, we continued to invest in the consumer value proposition to lay the foundations for future growth."
It appears takeaway services are doing well as a whole, with rival company Just Eat also reporting highly successful numbers for their final quarter in the UK and Northern Europe last year.
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