Guzman y Gomez says Australian sales grew on back of Uber Eats partnership

Guzman y Gomez has delivered a welcome surprise in the third quarter, analysts say, with Australian sales growing on the back of its tie-up with popular online food ordering platform Uber Eats.

Guzman said Australian comparable sales grew 6.6 per cent in the three months to March 31, an acceleration from the 4.8 per cent growth recorded in the second quarter.

And while it was a slowdown from the same time a year ago, the result beat expectations for 5.1 per cent growth.

Guzman said delivery sales contributed to growth over the period, supported by the strong performance of its partnership with Uber Eats.

Under the deal announced in February, Uber Eats became Guzman’s sole third-party delivery partner in Australia.

It comes after Coles announced a similar exclusivity deal with Uber Eats earlier this year, while Woolworths has partnered with rival DoorDash.

Tuesday’s trading update sent shares in Guzman surging 18 per cent to $17.93 just before midday. The stock is down 16.9 per cent so far this year.

RBC Capital Markets analyst Michael Toner said Australian comparable sales were well ahead of where he expected given the 11.1 per cent growth in the prior corresponding period.

“To what extent this improved outcome was supported by GYG’s exclusivity agreement with Uber is unclear, but company commentary suggests this may have played a role,” he said.

Guzman reported network sales of $345.9 million for the third quarter, up 19.5 per cent on the same time last year.

At its eight loss-making US stores, sales rose $4m during the quarter, up from $3.2m a year ago.