Deliveroo CEO Will Shu has quashed reports he could be stepping down from the role.
“I’m not. You’re hearing it from me,” he told The Grocer. “I’m running this company. I’m excited about it. You’ve heard all the cool stuff we’re doing. That’s what’s ultimately motivating to me.”
Last month, Sky News reported that the Deliveroo board was planning Shu’s succession, and that he was contemplating stepping down from the role at the company he founded in 2013 as early as autumn this year.
Deliveroo responded to the story by saying there were “no plans for Will to step down”, which some pundits considered a ‘non-denial denial’. Sky also reported that Carlo Mocci, Deliveroo’s chief business officer, was regarded as the internal favourite to replace Shu, and that an executive search firm had been engaged by Deliveroo on the project.
Questioned on whether the reports and rumours were impacting his leadership, Shu said: “Does it impact me? Well, no, because I’m not leaving and I’m running the company.
“OK, there’s a press article out here. But I mean, honestly, you just get over it and you focus on business,” he added.
In the company’s full-year results this morning, Deliveroo revealed it achieved its first-ever annual profit last year and was expecting more growth despite an uncertain consumer environment.
The listed company recorded a profit of £2.9m, compared with a loss of £31.8m the previous year. Its gross transaction value (GTV) was up 6% to £7.4bn, and up 7% in the UK. Deliveroo also said it had enjoyed a return to order growth of 2%.
Non-takeaway food has been a major driver of that growth. Grocery now accounts for 16% of the company’s global GTV. Deliveroo has also doubled the number of non-food retail sites trading on the Deliveroo platform.
In recent months, there has been growing speculation that Deliveroo will attract a takeover offer from an international suitor. Last month, Deliveroo rival Just Eat Takeaway agreed to a €4.1bn acquisition offer from Dutch investment group Prosus. Bernstein analysts consider that Deliveroo’s “smaller scale means it is unlikely to be a consolidator of the space but more likely being consolidated”.
On a potential deal, Shu told The Grocer: “We’re very confident in what we do. If someone bids on the company – we’re a public company and there’s a board. So it is what it is. But we don’t plan our strategy around that. We’re an independent company and we’re doing really well.”
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