Ocado losses widen: Share price rises as retail arm shows signs of improvement
Pre-tax losses at Ocado have widened to £289m in the first half of the year, as the grocery firm’s share price was up over 14 per cent this morning.
The supermarket technology business said its retail arm – which is a joint venture with M&S – grew five per cent to £1.17bn as it returned to profitability during the quarter.
The middle class favourite introduced a series of Tesco price matching schemes which attracted customers amid the cost of living crisis.
Its technology division, which licences supermarket warehouse technology to other retailers also made a profit with revenues rising 58.9 per cent to £1.98bn.
Chief Tim Stiener said: “At a group level, I am pleased to see the operational and financial discipline delivered by all our teams as we focus on driving cost efficiencies and cash flow improvement.
“For these reasons, we look forward to delivering the full potential of the business and continuing to create lasting value for all our stakeholders.”
The news of profitability sent Ocado’s share price soaring this morning to over 14 per cent, eventually reaching near 20 per cent through out the day.
Its share price also rocketed last month when it was rumoured that Amazon was eyeing a takeover of the brand.
Richard Hunter, Head of Markets at interactive investor, said: “Ocado continues to make somewhat laboured progress, with increasing revenues unable to prevent another loss for the period.
Depreciation and exceptional items were the main culprits in widening the pre-tax loss for the half year to £289 million from a previous £211 million, a deterioration of 37 per cent.
“There were also mixed performances over the two quarters from the most recognisable parts of the business, namely the Technology Solutions business which houses the Ocado Smart Platform (OSP) and is seen as the engine of growth, and Retail which compromises the 50% joint venture with Marks & Spencer.”