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July 28 (Reuters) - German online takeaway food company Delivery Hero DHER.DE raised its guidance for 2020 sales on Tuesday after nearly doubling quarterly revenues as coronavirus-related lockdowns and investments in ultra-speed deliveries boosted its business in the second quarter.
The Berlin-based company, which operates in over 40 countries, expects its 2020 revenues to come in between 2.6 billion euros and 2.8 billion euros ($3.05 billion-$3.28 billion), compared to its previous forecast for a range from 2.4 billion euros to 2.6 billion euros.
Delivery Hero has experienced a steady rise in demand since it increased its restaurant offering and expanded in grocery delivery after initially lower order volumes and supply disruptions at the early stage of the coronavirus pandemic outbreak.
Its second-quarter revenue came in at 612.1 million euros compared to 314.7 million euros in the year-ago period.
In mid-July, the company reported a 98% jump in quarterly orders at its quick delivery business, which provides small quantities of selected groceries and household goods to customers in less than an hour from around 150 local warehouses in 11 markets.
The meal delivery firm also announced plans to launch operations in Japan under the foodpanda brand in the third quarter. The initial investment is 20-30 million euros, it said.
"Japan is the greatest underpenetrated delivery market outside of China, and we see great potential to win market shares in this early stage environment," Chief Financial Officer Emmanuel Thomassin said in a statement.
Delivery Hero said it continues to expect in the second half of the year regulatory approval for the acquisition of South Korea's top food delivery app owner Woowa Brothers, which it agreed to buy in December. nL4N28N0YZ]
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(Reporting by Linda Pasquini Editing by Tomasz Janowski)
((linda.pasquini@thomsonreuters.com; +48 58 7785261;))
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