Deliveroo boss sells almost £15m worth of shares – Will Shu sells after group posts first half-year profit

Deliveroo boss Will Shu has sold almost £15m worth of shares after the food delivery group made a half-year profit for the first time.

Shu, who co-founded the business more than a decade ago, sold 9.4 million shares worth £14.8 million between September 12 and 16, the company revealed in a stock exchange filing.

The group said it did so to “cover investments in personal property” and that it does not participate in the company’s annual bonuses or long-term stock award plans.

Shu, a former employee of investment bank Morgan Stanley, still owns 95.8 million shares, or 5.9 percent of the company, after the sale.

This comes a month after Deliveroo posted a half-year profit for the first time, in what executives described as an “important milestone”.

The food delivery group, known as ‘Flopperoo’ after its disastrous IPO in 2021, has seen its results recover recently.

Deliveroo shares have risen almost 38 per cent in the past six months but remain less than half their initial public offering price of 390 pence. They closed up 0.3 per cent, or 0.4 pence, at 157.3 pence yesterday.

Profits rose to £1.3m in the first half of this year, compared with a loss of £83m in the same period last year. Orders placed during the half rose 2 per cent to 147m.

Gross transaction value per order (i.e. the average cost of customers’ food baskets plus delivery costs) was £25, up from £24.20 the previous year.

This was mainly due to restaurants and shops raising their prices, although inflation has cooled over the past year.

The company debuted on the London Stock Exchange in March 2021 amid a business boost during the pandemic. During that time, restaurants were forced to close and many more customers ordered food online.

But Deliveroo has had a tough time since then because it invested heavily in marketing, technology and staff.

Sales also slowed as consumers began returning to pubs and restaurants after lockdowns ended.

Childhood friends Shu and Greg Orlowski teamed up to start the business in 2013. Shu and other bosses received their first pay raises since going public this year.

Senior executives received a 3 percent increase in base pay earlier this year, according to Deliveroo’s annual report, published in March.

This brought Shu’s annual salary to £618,000 and that of finance director Scilla Grimble to £515,000. By 2023, their total salary, including pension and benefits, rose to £675,000.

In December 2021, Shu sold £47m worth of shares in his company to meet his tax obligations. He had been required to pay a tax on restricted share units as part of the company’s listing earlier that year.

In June, Deliveroo was named as one of several London-listed companies targeted for takeover this year.

There were reports that San Francisco-based rival Doordash had contacted them.

However, the talks, which began in May, ended after a disagreement over price, according to Reuters.

At the time, Jefferies analysts said this “may just be the beginning” and could open the door to further 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 headlines re-emerge in the near term.”