(Reuters) - Takeaway.com’s net loss increased by more than a third in 2017 but the food delivery group said it would continue to spend heavily on marketing as it fights for a bigger slice of the German market.

The Dutch company is competing with rival Delivery Hero in Germany, which is Takeaway.com’s second biggest market after the Netherlands.

“We are not going to stop spending money, we are going to increase our revenue ... and by doing that, we will become profitable in Germany,” Jitse Groen told Reuters in an interview.

Takeaway reported a group net loss of 42 million euros ($51.31 million) for 2017. Group full-year revenue rose by 49 percent to 166.5 million euros in 2017, with revenue in Germany up 57 percent.

The company spent 71 million euros on marketing in Germany, where sales totaled 58 million euros last year.

Takeaway has exited Britain and France and is using funds from its 2016 initial public offering to focus on building its presence in Germany.

Groen repeated on Wednesday his company would be interested in combining operations with other companies in Germany, but said a deal was not necessary.

Consolidation in Germany “depends on negotiations with parties that do not necessarily want to negotiate,” he said on a conference call.

Earlier this month, Delivery Hero Chief Executive Niklas Ostberg said no deal with Takeaway was imminent.

Delivery Hero is larger overall, with operations across 40 countries.

Takeaway’s shares were 3.2 percent lower by 1352 GMT.