Peter Plumb is to step down as chief executive officer and director of Just Eat, with chief customer officer Peter Duffy appointed as interim CEO and director of the company, with immediate effect.
Just Eat said the search for a replacement for Plumb would begin immediately.
In a trading update, the company said 2018 had been a transformational year for Just Eat, which had seen it develop its marketplace “into a world-class experience for customers and partners”, as well as better engineering its delivery services. It said the results of these initiatives had surpassed its expectations.
Just Eat said it now anticipated reporting full year 2018 orders of 221 million, revenue of around £780 million and underlying EBITDA in the range of £172 million - 174 million. It plans to leverage its improvements this year to drive order and revenue growth, it said, adding that it expects to growth marketplace EBITDA margins year on year.
The business said it would invest this increased profit in accelerate its delivery initiatives along the pathway towards profitability, principally in the UK and Australia. “The targeted roll-out of delivery in key zones will allow us to increase our overall customer base and serve even more brilliant food moments,” it said in a statement.
The board said it expects to report full year 2019 revenue in the range of £1 billion to £1.1 billion and underlying EBITDA (both excluding Brazil and Mexico) in the range of £185 million to £205 million.
Commenting on Plumb’s departure, chairman Mike Evans said: “The Board would like to thank Peter Plumb for setting Just Eat on a new course which better places it to address a much larger and rapidly expanding market. We wish him well for the future.
“Peter Duffy and the senior leadership team will continue to drive the execution of our strategy, which has the full backing of the Board. Peter Duffy and Paul Harrison, chief financial officer, will provide a full update to the market at our full year results.”
Plumb commented: “2018 was another year of strong growth for the Group. The business is in good health, and now is the right time for me to step aside and make way for a new leader for the next exciting wave of growth.”
