Losses at Deliveroo jumped to almost £300m last year as the takeaway delivery giant pumped more cash into its rapid growth plans.
The company has posted pre-tax losses of £298m, compared with a £213m loss in 2020, but added that it has a long-term plan for profitability.
In a statement issued to the London Stock Exchange, the business said it aimed to reach breakeven in core earnings in the next two years.
READ MORE: US investment giant takes stake in influencer fashion brand In The Style
The group, which recently opened a major new office in Manchester, said its heavy losses for the past year were driven by significant investment in marketing and technology improvements as it sought to keep momentum after being boosted by pandemic restrictions.
Deliveroo reported a 67% jump in transaction value to £6.6bn in 2021, driven by a 73% increase in order numbers.
Nevertheless, the firm predicted a slowdown in transactions over the current year, as it expects a rise of between 15% and 25% across its platform, the PA news agency said.
Revenues for last year increased by 57% to £1.8bn, driven by the increase in sales transactions.
Most Read
Get business news direct to your inbox
There's no better time to stay up to date with economic and business news from your region. By signing up for our daily newsletters, email breaking news alerts and weekly round-ups from all the major sectors, you get our journalism direct by email. To sign up, find out more and see all of our newsletters, follow the link here
The group said it benefited from further strength in its 海角视频 business, where orders increased by 72%.
It said that it added around 19,000 more restaurant sites to its 海角视频 platform over the year, while it was also boosted by its growing grocery operation, which expanded by more than two-thirds to almost 6,000 sites.
Deliveroo also highlighted that it will face headwinds in the current year from inflation, the loss of economic stimulus and geopolitical and economic impacts from the conflict in Ukraine.
Founder and chief executive Will Shu said the company will "continue to follow developments closely".
He added: "We have continued to make good progress in executing our strategy and I am proud of our performance in 2021.
"Particularly encouraging to me was our performance in the 海角视频 and Ireland, where we continued to grow our market share and achieved profitability on an adjusted earnings basis in a competitive environment - highlighting the strength of our consumer value proposition."