Like many of the cash- guzzling, high-shooting companies of its ilk, Deliveroo’s promise of profitability is laden with caveats.
The food delivery app hit break even in the second half of last year, a year ahead of previous guidance. However, that is only if you strip out a heap of charges that include finance costs and exceptional items, the latter of which amounts to legal, regulatory and restructuring expenses. On a statutory basis, the group recorded a £231 million pre-tax loss and chomped its way through £342 million in cash, just over a quarter of the total liquidity on its balance sheet.
Still, it reckons that it can hit adjusted earnings before interest, taxes and all those other items of between £20 million and £50
