Even with strong growth in revenues in 2021, UK-based restaurant delivery business Deliveroo saw losses increase significantly against last year.

Revenues grew by 57% to £1.82bn in 2021, even as the FTSE-listed company reported losses mushroom to £298 million, from £213m in 2020. Adjusted core loss was £131 million, as against just £11m in 2020.

Driving revenues was the number of orders, hitting 300.6 million – a growth of 73%. Gross transaction value fell to £22.10 in the period.

Will Shu, founder and chief executive officer of Deliveroo, said: “This year is clear that all three sides of our marketplace in Europe will face headwinds due to inflationary pressures, the removal of economic stimulus and the broader geopolitical and economic impacts of the conflict in Ukraine.”

“We will continue to monitor developments closely. Our 2022 guidance reflects our caution on these factors, but we are confident in our ability to adapt financially to a rapidly changing macroeconomic environment.”

Shu’s claims that the company is going to break even at some point seems to have convinced shareholders, even as hard figures on losses told another story. It saw share prices rice by 4.2% on the announcement.

Despite promises that their businesses will become viable at some point in the future, even large scale businesses like Deliveroo have far from proven this will be the case. They burn through investment funding and none globally have even come near achieving break even, despite having hard business practises and minimising employment costs wherever possible. It remains to be seen whether Shu’s dreams of breaking even will become reality.