Ocado, the British online supermarket and technology group, reported a smaller annual loss and said it was on track to hit its key target of turning cash flow positive in its 2025-26 year.
The group runs an online supermarket in Britain through a joint venture with Marks & Spencer, though its value is driven by the sale of its cutting-edge warehouse technology to retailers around the world.
Ocado said it had made a pretax loss of £374.3 million ($473.8 million) in the year to 1 December 2024, versus a loss of £387 million in 2022-23.
At the core earnings, or adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA), level, Ocado's preferred metric, the group made £153.3 million, up from £51.6 million in 2022/23, reflecting an improved performance in both its technology solutions and retail divisions.
Robotic Sites
Ocado shares are down 33% year-on-year with the market concerned by a slowdown in the rollout of robotic sites for its grocery retail partners and a lack of further technology deals.
Its most important grocery partner, Kroger in the United States, has slowed down its rollout of robotic warehouses, or customer fulfilment centres (CFCs) as Ocado calls them, while its Canadian partner Sobeys has paused the opening of a fourth warehouse.
Ocado said at least seven more CFCs would go live over the next three years.
But it said two of these - CFCs for Kroger in Charlotte and Phoenix - were not now expected to go live until early in its 2025-26 year.
Tim Steiner, CEO of Ocado Group, stated, “In 2024, we delivered a shift in the potential of robotics and automation to improve retail supply chains. [...] Online continues to drive the greatest share of organic growth in the global grocery market. [...]
“Ocado Retail in the UK continues to lead the way as consistently the fastest growing grocer in the market and reaching 1 million active shoppers for the first time.”
News by Reuters, additional reporting by ESM.
