FRANKFURT, Feb 10 — The food-ordering group Delivery Hero dropped sharply on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange after publishing results and forecasts today that disappointed investors.

Delivery Hero’s share price fell by up to 30 per cent in trading and sat at around minus 26 per cent at 12.45pm local time (1145 GMT), the biggest drop on record for the company. 

While sales on the group’s platforms exceeded expectations, the operating profit margin on those sales was below Delivery Hero’s minus-two-per cent target, finishing the year at minus 2.2 per cent.

The Berlin-based company sees the same measure falling between minus one and minus 1.2 per cent in 2022, putting off the prospect of reaching profitability this year.

Food-delivery services, which benefited from people staying home more in the early stages of the coronavirus pandemic, have struggled as health restrictions have fallen away and diners return to restaurants.

The company, which joined Germany’s blue-chip DAX index in August 2020, has struggled to convince investors, with the group’s share price dropping by around 50 per cent over the past year.

For the coming year the company has set itself the aim of increasing sales on its platforms to between €44 billion and €45 billion (RM184 billion and RM188 billion).

The target is up on the firm’s 2021 result of €35 billion, but below the figure of €48 billion expected by analysts.

"With steady growth rates and an increasing contribution margin of own-delivery, it is clear that our business model works,” Delivery Hero’s chief financial officer Emmanuel Thomassin said in a statement. — AFP