Just Eat Shares Soar as Takeaway Sales Surge on Wet UK Weather

Just Eat shares are leading the index today after the online takeaway giant revealed that unusually wet winter weather in the UK and Northern Europe pushed more people to order in food.

The Just Eat stock price rose by over 5% in early trading to 231.86p after the group said that it had a strong financial performance since 31 December 2013 and trading is slightly ahead of management expectations.

"I am pleased with our 2014 performance to date, with trading slightly ahead of management expectations in a period of strong growth and great execution by our local teams," said David Buttress, CEO at Just Eat, which launched an IPO on 8 April.

"Just Eat's continued growth reflects the further expansion of our contracted restaurant network giving our consumers an increased choice as they shift to online takeaway ordering. During a period of unusually wet winter weather in several of our key markets our consumers ordered more takeaway online and via mobile than ever before."

Just Eat revealed that orders in the 3 months to 31 March 2014 increased by 51% compared to the same period in 2013.