Aug 29 (Reuters) - German online takeaway food company

Delivery Hero on Thursday reported stronger than

expected growth it its second-quarter gross merchandise value

and confirmed its full-year outlook on the back of higher order

volumes.

Quarterly gross merchandise value or GMV, a common metric

for delivery firms measuring the total value of all goods sold,

grew 7.4% in constant currency terms to 11.89 billion euros

($13.24 billion), beating analysts' average forecast of 11.57

billion euros.

Its quickest-growing region was Middle East and North Africa

(MENA), where it posted 28% GMV growth compared to a year

earlier, excluding the effects of hyperinflationary environments

in Turkey and Lebanon.

In Asia, Delivery Hero's core region that made up around one

third of its global sales last year, GMV shrunk 5% amid stiff

competition from the likes of Coupang ( CPNG ) and GS Retail's

Yogiyo in South Korea.

The group's shares were up 3.6% by 0904 GMT after it also

said it was preparing an initial public offering (IPO) of its

Emirati subsidiary Talabat on the Dubai Stock Exchange, the

latest shuffle in its regional brands after the $1.2 billion

sale of the foodpanda business in Taiwan.

The stock has fallen around 85% from its January 2021 highs

as investors shunned food delivery stocks after the

pandemic-driven frenzy.

"It's a little bit in our DNA to constantly evaluate what we

should be doing with our portfolio," interim Chief Financial

Officer Marie-Anne Popp told Reuters, but did not provide

further details on which investors were on board or how the

company intended to use the proceeds from the IPO.

Deutsche Bank said in a research note that the planned IPO

likely came as a surprise and would be received positively by

the market.

($1 = 0.8981 euros)