Deliveroo co-founder Will Shu has sold nearly £15million of shares in his food delivery group just weeks after the company reported its first ever profit.
Chief executive Shu, 44, who has previously admitted to being ‘obsessive’ about making his company a success after setting it up more than a decade ago, has sold 9.4m shares worth £14.8million.
The transaction took place between September 12 and September 16 to ‘cover personal property investments’, the company revealed in a stock market disclosure.
Despite the huge pay day, the notoriously private millionaire is unlikely to give up what he loves doing most: hand delivering meals made in restaurants and delivering them directly to his customers, just as he has been doing since the company began in 2013.
Back then, Shu was Deliveroo’s first ever rider and he has made no secret of still loving that part of the job, even though he is the boss of a global outfit on the up and up.
Deliveroo co-founder Will Shu has sold nearly £15million of shares in his food delivery group just weeks after the company reported its first ever profit
Even after the sale, Notting Hill resident Shu, a former employee at investment bank Morgan Stanley, retains a hefty chunk of the business, with 95.8m shares still to his name.
He additionally holds 15m restricted stock units.
Chief executive Shu, 44, who set up the business more than a decade ago, sold 9.4m shares worth £14.8million between September 12 and September 16
The group said he does not participate in the company’s annual bonuses or long-term share award schemes.
The sale comes after Deliveroo announced in August that it had made a profit of £1.3m in the first half of the year, swinging from a loss of £82.9million this time last year and had launched a £150m share buyback, The Times reports.
The food delivery company saw its total number of orders placed in the same period soar by two per cent to 147 million.
Deliveroo has revealed that it had seen encouraging signs in terms of consumer behaviour as food price rises continued to ease.
It posted a profit of £1.3million for the first half of the year, swinging from a loss of £82.9million this time last year.
Gross transaction value per order – which means the average cost of people’s food baskets plus delivery fees – was £25, up from £24.20 the prior year.
This was primarily driven by higher item prices, which are set by restaurants and shops, even though the rate that prices are rising continues to slow.
In the UK and Ireland, total spending jumped by 7 per cent at constant currency, partly driven by customers placing orders more frequently.
Deliveroo said it benefited from new restaurants on the platform, such as Pizza Pilgrims and Wingstop, as well as more grocery options and brands such as Ann Summers and B&Q selling products through the app.
Last month, American-born Shu said achieving a profit was a ‘major financial milestone’ for the company.
‘I strongly believe that consumer trust is the key to unlocking further growth in this industry and that is why we are relentlessly focused on achieving a flawless delivery experience, along with ensuring fair pricing for our consumers,’ he said.
Childhood friends Shu – who was formerly a banker – and Greg Orlowski teamed up to start the business back in 2013 by hand-delivering pizzas to friends.
American-born Shu said achieving a profit was a ‘major financial milestone’ for Deliveroo
Deliveroo’s fortunes are on the up after a period of slow sales when Covid restrictions lifted
Since then the company has grown exponentially, operating in ten markets with 140,000 delivery riders and 180,000 restaurants on its platform.
The food delivery group was formerly branded ‘Flopperoo’ after its disastrous stock market float in 2021 – but has seen a revival in fortunes lately.
It received a boost in business during the pandemic when restaurants were forced to close and far more customers ordered meals online.
But Deliveroo has had a tough time since then because it invested heavily in marketing, technology and head count.
Sales also slowed when consumers started to make their way back to pubs and restaurants after the lockdowns came to an end.
In June, Deliveroo was named as one of the many London-listed companies to be targeted for takeover this year.
There were reports it had been approached by San Francisco-based rival Doordash.
However the talks, which started in May, ended after a disagreement over price, according to Reuters.
At the time, analysts at Jefferies said this ‘may only be the start’ and could open the door to more takeover interest in Deliveroo, adding: ‘Such is the strength of the financial, industrial and strategic logic of a Deliveroo takeover, we would not be surprised to see similar such headlines re-emerge in the short term.’