Ocado grows first quarter revenue despite weather disruption
Online grocery retailer Ocado saw its revenue increase by 11.7% to £363.4 million in its first quarter despite snow impacting operations in the final week of the period.
In the 13 weeks to 4 March, average orders grew by 11.1% although average order size dipped by 0.4%.
In a statement, the company said it is making good progress in improving volumes through its state- of-the-art distribution facility in Andover and that it is on track for the opening of its new Erith facility by mid-2018
Tim Steiner, Ocado’s chief executive, said: “We are pleased to report another quarter of strong underlying sales growth in our retail business in line with our guidance for the year.
“The reported rate of retail revenue growth over the quarter was broadly the same as in Q4 2017 as we operated at maximum capacity for most of the quarter and were impacted by the winter storms that caused widespread disruption during the final week.
“I would like to take this opportunity to thank all my colleagues who nonetheless succeeded in delivering nearly 300,000 orders over the last week of the quarter, often in the most trying conditions.”
During the period, Ocado also signed a new partnership with Canadian grocer Sobeys to develop an online grocery business in Canada using the Ocado Smart Platform.
