Ocado HY losses narrow to £154m

Ocado has revealed that its losses narrowed to £154m for the half year ended 2 June 2024, down from £290m in the same period last year.

Overall, the company’s group revenue rose 12.6% to £1.5bn while its technology solutions arms saw an increase of 22%, its logistics arm saw a 6% rise and retail revenue rose 11%.

Furthermore, overall the group also had an adjusted EBITDA of £71.2m, up £54.6m from £16.6m in the same period last year.

Looking ahead, the group now expects an adjusted EBITDA in the high mid-teens for technology solutions, around £30m for logistics and a margin of around 2.5% excluding fees related to the closure of its Hatfield CFC.

It also expects between 15 and 20% growth for its technology solutions, a high single digit growth for logistics and mid to high single digit growth for retail.

Tim Steiner, CEO, said: “Today’s results illustrate good progress as we support thirteen of the world’s leading grocers to grow their online business with our technology. We have come through an unprecedented period for online grocery, with multiple years of high food inflation following a surge in demand during the pandemic. The global channel shift to online has now resumed and Ocado is uniquely well-positioned to take advantage of the opportunity.

“Our technology is delivering high levels of productivity and customer satisfaction. In the UK, Ocado Retail continues to lead the way in online grocery, and internationally we have received orders for new capacity, with a number of our partners reporting strong digital sales growth year-on-year.”

He added: “The success of our partners is our top priority, and we are focused on helping them execute their online strategies to deliver attractive returns from their investment in our technology. While there remains more to do, we look forward to making continued progress over the rest of the financial year and beyond, as we build a profitable, cash-generating, technology business”