Ocado looks ahead to strong trading
Ocado said it expects trading to improve later in the year after its fourth quarter retail revenue rose by 0.3% to £549.4 million.
In the 13 weeks to 27 November, average orders per week at Ocado.com increased by 1.9% year-on-year to 382,000 as the retailer grew its number of active customers by 12.9% to 940,000. However, average basket value was down 1.3% year-on-year at £117.
The business, which is a joint venture between Ocado and Marks & Spencer, posted a 3.8% decline in full-year revenue to £2.2 billion, but this represented a 40% increase on pre-pandemic levels three years ago.
Ocado said it has made a strong start to its new financial year with sales up 15% over the five days before Christmas, including the highest level of orders ever recorded in a single day.
The company said current headwinds related to inflationary costs, capacity investments and higher marketing costs have continued to weigh on profitability.
Hannah Gibson, Ocado Retail’s chief executive, said: “This year we delivered our biggest ever Christmas for our customers at Ocado. A huge thank you to all my colleagues for making this possible. We now have close to 1m active customers, our largest ever customer base and we see huge potential to convert those who have now trialled online shopping elsewhere to become Ocado customers.
“The year ahead will set us up to deliver strong sales and profit growth over the mid-term. In 2023 we will continue to strengthen and improve our leading customer proposition, including investing in value to help customers manage cost of living pressures, while keeping tight control of our costs. We will also be doing much more to unlock the potential of our partners, combining the benefits of Ocado’s technology with the magic of M&S products.”
