Ocado shares jump amid rumours of Amazon interest
Ocado’s shares have seen a steady decline from its pandemic high sparking fears it could fall off the FTSE 100
Ocado has seen its share jump price surge by almost 32% this morning (23 June) among rumours that online retail giant Amazon could be interested in a potential takeover, according to The Times.
Ocado saw its share price jump from from 424p per share at close on Wednesday to 607p on Thursday morning after the outlet reported that the grocer was potentially being targeted by American “technology heavyweights” who have instructed Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan to help with any bids.
Ocado’s shares have seen a steady decline from its pandemic high sparking fears it could fall off the FTSE 100.
Most recently it faced a shareholder revolt after 30% voted against a measure that would see CEO Tim Steiner receive a £2m pay packet.
In its AGM held yesterday (2 May), 492,647,838, or 70% of votes were in favour of the remuneration package while 212,534,897 votes were against it.
It comes as Steiner was handed a £755,000 salary for the year and an annual bonus payment of £1.19m, despite the fact the online grocer saw full-year losses widen to £500m, as it said its retail revenues struggled amid the cost of living crisis.
Group revenues remained relatively flat at £2.5bn for the year ended 27 November 2022, but retail revenues fell by 3.8% from £2.28bn to £2.08bn as it revealed customer growth was offset by lower value baskets.
The group also reported an EBITDA loss of £74m, compared with a profit of £61m in FY21, as a result of cost pressures and capacity investments made to support growth at Ocado Retail.
