Ocado Retail maintains full year guidance
Ocado Retail, a joint venture between Ocado and Marks & Spencer, has maintained its full year financial guidance after posting an uplift in revenue in its first quarter.
In the 13 weeks to 26 February, retail revenue rose by 3.4% year-on-year to £584 million.
The company benefited from continued growth in new customers in the period and a 3.6% increase in average orders. In addition, the number of active customers stood at 951,000 at the end of the quarter, which was 13.8% more than in the corresponding period a year earlier.
Ocado Retail has maintained its previous full year guidance given in February of mid-single digit revenue growth, with an improving trajectory during the year, and marginally positive EBITDA.
Hannah Gibson, Ocado Retail’s chief executive, said: “While the trading environment remains challenging, we expect to build momentum through the second half of the year, as we improve our proposition, grow our customer base, and no longer lap Covid shopping behaviours. This solid 2023 performance will enable us to return to sales growth and profitability.”
