Member Article

Ocado reports first-ever annual profit at £7.2 million

Online grocery delivery service Ocado has announced a pre-tax profit of £7.2 million for 2014 - the first profit full-year profit since the company’s launch in 2010.

Ocado, which has recently begun expanding from its South East-base, reported a pre-tax loss of £12.5 million in 2013.

The grocery delivery service saw sales jump to £948.9 million for the year ending November 2014, compared to £792.1 million for the sale period in 2013.

The company has benefited from a partnership with Morrisons in 2013, and is also continuing to deliver goods from Waitrose.

Tim Steiner, chief executive officer of Ocado, said: “Channel shift towards online grocery shopping continued during the period. While the broader grocery market was characterised by intense competition with minimal growth in the segment, declining supermarket store sales, competitive price activity and cautious consumer spending, we continued to grow ahead of the online grocery market and significantly ahead of the market overall.

“At the same time, we invested for further growth in UK grocery, non-food and platform opportunities given the attraction of our model in a growing online grocery market.

“The successful launch and smooth ramp up of Morrisons.com was particularly encouraging and paves the way for future agreements to commercialise the value of our intellectual property.

“Overall, we are well equipped to continue to lead the online grocery revolution, in the UK and overseas, as increasing numbers of customers shift away from traditional forms of retailing. We are confident that we have significant opportunities for growth in sales and shareholder value.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ellen Forster .