Delivery Hero SE, one of the world’s leading local delivery platforms, has released its audited financial results for the full year 2025, highlighting a year marked by strong growth, improving profitability, and meaningful progress in cash generation. The company’s performance reflects both the resilience of its core food delivery operations and the growing impact of its strategic transformation into a broader, multi-vertical platform. Alongside these results, Delivery Hero also emphasized its disciplined approach to capital allocation, underscored by the recently announced agreement on March 23, 2026, to sell its food delivery operations in Taiwan. This move further reinforces management’s confidence in the company’s strategic direction and its outlook for 2026.
Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder Niklas Östberg pointed to clear evidence that the company’s “Everyday App” strategy is gaining traction. By expanding beyond traditional restaurant delivery into additional categories such as groceries, household essentials, and health and beauty products, Delivery Hero is increasing customer engagement across multiple use cases. This shift is driving improvements in key performance indicators, including order frequency, basket size, and overall unit economics. According to Östberg, the company’s strong momentum positions it well to continue executing its strategic review, with the Taiwan divestment representing the fifth asset monetization initiative undertaken to date.
Chief Financial Officer Marie-Anne Popp highlighted the company’s financial progress, noting that 2025 saw significant gains in both profitability and Free Cash Flow. Adjusted EBITDA for the year rose by 30% year-over-year to reach €903 million, reflecting increased engagement across the platform’s expanding range of services. Free Cash Flow before extraordinary items also improved, rising 15% to €250 million and marking the second consecutive year of positive cash generation. Looking ahead, the company has set a 2026 target of €910 million to €960 million in adjusted EBITDA and aims to exceed €200 million in Free Cash Flow. These targets reflect a balanced approach that prioritizes continued investment in customer value propositions while maintaining a focus on sustainable, long-term growth.
A central pillar of Delivery Hero’s strategy is its evolution into an “Everyday App,” designed to meet a broader array of consumer needs throughout the day. By integrating multiple verticals into a single platform, the company aims to capture demand from early morning through late night, creating more frequent and higher-value interactions with customers. This approach is already delivering tangible results. In 2025, Quick Commerce Gross Merchandise Value (GMV) grew by more than 30% year-over-year to exceed €7.5 billion. When combined with traditional food delivery, this multi-vertical offering enables Delivery Hero to significantly increase customer lifetime value.
The company has observed that customers who engage with multiple verticals spend on average five times more than those who use only food delivery services. Additionally, there is a notable increase in order frequency after a customer’s first Quick Commerce transaction, demonstrating the effectiveness of cross-category engagement in driving platform usage. Building on this momentum, Delivery Hero expects Quick Commerce GMV to approach €10 billion in 2026, supported by continued investment in its proprietary Dmarts infrastructure, expanded product assortments, and enhanced customer experience.
Geographically, Delivery Hero reported renewed growth momentum in key markets such as South Korea and Saudi Arabia toward the end of 2025. This re-acceleration was driven by targeted initiatives aligned with the Everyday App strategy, including improvements to subscription offerings, the addition of new partnerships, and enhancements to delivery operations. These markets, along with other regions in Asia and the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), will remain a primary focus for investment in 2026 as the company seeks to strengthen its leadership positions and retain high-value customers.
Another major priority for 2026 is the ongoing strategic review aimed at unlocking additional shareholder value. As part of this process, Delivery Hero has entered into an agreement to sell its foodpanda business in Taiwan to Grab Holdings Limited for $600 million in cash. The transaction, which remains subject to regulatory approval, reflects the substantial value created by the company in that market. Proceeds from the sale are expected to support debt reduction efforts and further strengthen the company’s capital structure.
Delivery Hero has also taken significant steps to enhance its financial flexibility. The company reported a pro forma cash balance of €2.7 billion, which includes proceeds from a newly secured $1.4 billion term loan facility announced in March 2026. This facility extends the company’s debt maturity profile and demonstrates its continued access to diversified funding sources, even amid volatile global credit conditions. Management intends to use these funds to repay convertible bonds due in 2026 and repurchase those maturing in 2027, thereby reducing future interest obligations and improving the overall debt profile.
The company’s capital position is expected to be further strengthened by the inflow of funds from the Taiwan divestment. Together, these measures reflect a comprehensive approach to financial management that balances growth investments with prudent capital structure optimization.
Overall, Delivery Hero’s 2025 performance underscores the success of its strategic transformation and its ability to adapt to evolving consumer behavior. By leveraging its multi-vertical platform, investing in high-growth markets, and maintaining financial discipline, the company is positioning itself for continued expansion and value creation in the years ahead.
Source Link:https://www.deliveryhero.com/
