Ocado reports £9m half-year loss amid heavy investment

British online supermarket, Ocado, has reported a £9m loss in its half-year financial results amid a period of heavy investment.

For the six months ending 3 June 2018 the retailer made £9m loss, but total revenue increased by 12.1% year-on-year from £713.8m to £799.9m.

The grocer says losses were due to “significant investments” to aid its future growth. Ocado also invested in robots for its warehouses and it expects to spend a further £4.4m on technology. Its distribution and administrative costs also increased by 13.4% to £193m.

In the past six months, the supermarket has signed partnerships with American grocer Kroger and Swedish retailer ICA.

Tim Steiner, chief executive officer of Ocado, said: “In the past six months we have partnered with some of the world’s, biggest, best and most innovative retailers to help them redefine the shopping experience for their own customers. As a result, we are beginning to fulfil our ambition to change the way the world shops.

“In order to fully capitalise on the opportunities ahead of us, we are working at pace, investing more and focussing sharply on execution to bring on new capacity in the UK and to achieve successful outcomes for our partners.”

He added: “We are confident that we have the ability to scale‐up the business, deliver on our commitments, drive sustainable growth and deliver value to all our stakeholders.”