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Just Eat Takeaway threw down the gauntlet to rivals as it announced a rapid surge in demand from customers stuck at home.
The FTSE 100 food delivery company, the world's largest online takeaway platform, said UK orders rose 88 per cent in the first two months of 2021 as lockdown boosted business.
That followed a 35 per cent rise in orders to 179m in the UK last year, which pushed revenues up 42 per cent to £619million.
© Provided by This Is MoneyJust Eat, which is the world's largest online takeaway platform, said UK orders rose 88 per cent in the first two months of 2021 as lockdown boosted business
Group sales, across all the countries where it operates, jumped 54 per cent to £2billion as the number of orders rose 42 per cent to 588m.
In a thinly veiled challenge to Deliveroo, which is planning a blockbuster £7billion float on the London stock market, bosses said they were investing heavily in Britain and 'expected to increase market share in the UK in 2021'.
But like Deliveroo, Just Eat posted substantial losses of £126million in 2020, up from £75million the year before, due to the cost of marketing to new customers and expanding its teams.
Just Eat has tried to lure customers from rivals with heavily discounted deliveries, and it increased the amount spent on marketing by 158 per cent to £315.4million.
Bosses hailed the 'exceptional year' saying the company will continue spending to snatch market share.
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Just Eat chief executive Jitse Groen said: 'The pandemic brought unprecedented challenges, but it also created tailwinds. We expect a further acceleration of our order growth in 2021 compared with last year.'
The company's biggest market is the UK, but it also operates in Germany, Canada, Australia, France, the Netherlands and Israel. The pandemic brought 12m new customers to the platform worldwide.
Shares in Just Eat rose 6.1 per cent, or 418p, to 7262p yesterday valuing the company at £10.8billion.
It is now worth more than Rolls-Royce and British Airways-owner IAG and its value dwarfs other household names such as Marks & Spencer.
Confidence in the food delivery sector will be put to the test when investors give their verdict on Deliveroo's float.
The sky-high price tag - which could top £7billion - has led investors to question how many customers will still want food delivery once restaurants reopen and life returns to normal.
There are also questions about the profitability of Just Eat, Deliveroo and Uber Eats, despite the enormous demand for takeaways, as the trio spend big to win market share.
Deliveroo this week posted a £223.7million underlying loss in 2020, despite a 64 per cent surge in sales to £4.1billion.
Just Eat admitted yesterday that it believed 'only clear market leadership positions' will give it the scale to deliver healthy profit margins in the long run.
The firm was formed by the £6.2billion takeover of London-based Just Eat by Dutch rival Takeaway.com in 2019.
The Anglo-Dutch firm has continued to buy up rivals to cement its position as the world's biggest online takeaway platform.
Its £5.2billion takeover of Grubhub, an American firm, was approved on October 7.
Wagamamas orders £175m lifeline
The owner of Frankie & Benny's and Wagamama has asked shareholders for a £175million lifeline to see it through the pandemic.
The Restaurant Group (TRG), which has permanently shut over 200 restaurants and laid off 3,000 staff in the pandemic, hopes the cash will give it a cushion if lockdowns are extended.
It could also provide it with firepower to snap up cheap sites in the aftermath of the pandemic as it aims to add around 30 Wagamama restaurants and 35 pubs to its portfolio over the next five years.
The FTSE 250 firm revealed that total sales dived by 57 per cent to £459.8million in the year to December 27 due to closures. Losses widened to £127.6million, from £37.3million in 2019.
However, it has enjoyed strong takeaway sales in lockdown. It is delivering 1m Frankie & Benny's orders a week, five times more than before the pandemic, and 3m from Wagamama.
Chief executive Andy Hornby said the fundraising was 'cautious' and would provide spare cash 'if there were further lockdowns'.
He added: 'TRG is operationally a much stronger business than 12 months ago.'