Valentine's Day takeaways see Just Eat serve up strong results

Just Eat, which is an online intermediary between fast food chains and customers, processed 1,100 orders per minute at its peak on February 14

Just Eat is a web platform where customers can order takeaways online (Getty )

Brits wooing their better halves with romantic takeaways and lonely singletons vegging out helped Just Eat to its busiest day ever on Valentine's Day.

Just Eat, which is an online intermediary between fast food chains and customers, processed 1,100 orders per minute at its peak on February 14, chief executive David Buttress said today. It came as the online takeaway service beat City expectations with its annual results, posting a 62% rise in revenue to £157 million. Orders jumped by 52% to 61.2 million, with people around the world ordering over £1 billion worth of food on the platform.

“We’ve had another fantastic year for growth. We couldn’t be more delighted,” said Buttress. “One of the things that is stimulating growth for Just Eat is mobile. Customers that order on mobile order more frequently. Mobile from a technology point of view is going to be critical.”

61% of Just Eat’s orders were made over mobile last year, compared to 43% in 2013.

The company bought seven businesses last year, with three other acquisitions since December. Buttress said: “We’ve been very busy in 2014 but on top of that 2015 has already got off to a busy start. We bought the market leading business in Mexico.”

The UK remained Just Eat’s biggest market, buoyed by sponsorship of Derby Football club and ITV’s Take Me Out. Buttress said sushi was a big driver of growth. Just Eat forecast revenue of £200 million for 2015. Just Eat shares rose 2.2%.