Just Eat has said it is set for a jump in profits amid “strong momentum” in the UK and Ireland.

Nevertheless, shares in Just Eat Takeaway.com fell on Wednesday morning with analysts linking this to the lack of a share buyback.

It came as the takeaway delivery giant revealed a drop in transactions over the past year.

It said gross transaction value (GTV) declined by 6% to 26.4 billion euros (£22.6 billion) in 2023 as customers made fewer orders.

The company said total order numbers dropped by 9% to 891 million from 984 million in the previous year.

Just Eat highlighted a positive performance in the UK and Ireland, where order levels improved throughout the year.

Total orders were still down 6% for the whole year, however it said revenues only declined 1% to 1.31 billion euros (£1.12 billion), as it benefited from higher food pricing.

The group also highlighted that core earnings in the region jumped to 135 million euros (£115.4 million) from 23 million euros (£19.7 million) a year earlier after it introduced more efficient delivery processes.

Across the company, core adjusted earnings were “ahead of guidance” at 324 million euros for the year.

It told shareholders it expects this to increase to 450 million euros for 2024.

Jitse Groen, chief executive officer of the group, said: “Our enhanced profitability resulted in reaching the critical milestone of returning to positive free cash flow in the second half of 2023.

“I am particularly pleased with the strong momentum in the UK and Ireland, with adjusted Ebitda (earnings before tax, interest, demortisation and amortisation) margin rapidly approaching a similarly high level as Northern Europe.

“Overall, the business is in a strong position to capture further improvement to our topline performance, adjusted ebitda and free cash flow in 2024.”