August 12, 2021: -Deliveroo doubled orders in the first half of 2021, as appetite for food delivery services held up even as Covid-19 restrictions eased.

The British food delivery company reported orders of 148.8 million in the six months to June 30, from 74.5 million in the same period before a year.

The total value of transactions on the platform doubled to £3.4 billion, while revenues climbed 82% to £922.5 million.

However, Deliveroo also narrowed its losses. The firm posted a tax loss of £104.8 million before in the first half, from the £128.4 million it lost in the first part of 2020.

On a call with analysts, Will Shu, Deliveroo’s CEO, said that the company had seen “no material impact” from the release of the U.K.’s Covid-19 lockdown.

The business experienced a “small to moderate” impact from the reopening in France and Italy, but this coincided with shifting demand due to “seasonality,” Shu said. He adds that the company saw “accelerated growth” in the Middle East and Asia.

It’s the first Deliveroo that has reported results since its disastrous beginning public offering in March.

The company decreased by 30% on its first day of trading, as investors worried about the sustainability of its business model and concerning over the gig economy, which Deliveroo is a well-known player.

Deliveroo shares fell 4% Wednesday.

“Investors appeared to have lost an appetite for shares in early trading, with the company expecting customer behavior to moderate later in the year,” said Susannah Streeter, senior investment and markets analyst, Hargreaves Lansdown.

“The pandemic has offered a structural growth opportunity for Deliveroo, but the longer-term outlook depends the way holds up in a post-pandemic world, and if that road to profitability looks any clearer.”

Still, the stock is up around 4% this week, boosted by news that German rival Delivery Hero has bought a 5.1% stake in the firm.

Niklas Östberg, Delivery Hero’s co-founder and CEO, said his company was Deliveroo, was “undervalued” after being “oversold” in its IPO.

The food delivery companies of Europe are under growing pressure to consolidate as the competition intensifies. The surge of on-demand grocery delivery start-ups like Getir and Gorillas has put incumbent players on edge.

The previous week, Estonian ride-hailing firm Bolt said it planned to push into the online grocery delivery industry after increasing 600 million euros of fresh funds from investors.

Deliveroo has invested heavily in grocery. The company said Wednesday that its gross margin decreased to 7.8% in the first half from 8.8% a year earlier as it ramped up spending on grocery delivery.