10th Mar 2015 07:44
LONDON (Alliance News) - Ocado Group PLC Tuesday reported strong growth in sales for the first quarter of its financial year, driven by a large increase in average orders per week even though the average size of each order fell slightly.
The online grocery company, which has also teamed with Wm Morrison Supermarkets PLC to be its online delivery company, also said it expects to continue growing slightly ahead of the overall online grocery market.
Gross sales in the 12 weeks to February 22 were GBP271.1 million, up from GBP227.5 million in the 12 weeks to February 23, 2014. Gross retail sales of all Ocado operations including Fetch.co.uk and Sizzle.co.uk grew 15.2% to GBP252 million, from GBP218.8 million.
Average orders per week rose to 183,000 from 155,000, an increase of 18.1%, while average order size fell by 2.4% to GBP114.72 from GBP117.53.
As at February 22, Ocado had cash and cash equivalents of GBP77.7 million and external borrowings of GBP44.7 million.
"Our business continued to grow, against a backdrop of a retail market that remains challenging and competitive. We remain committed to improving the quality of the proposition to customers, which we believe will support further growth," Ocado's Chief Executive Tim Steiner said.
"Notwithstanding the uncertainty that remains in the marketplace, we expect to continue growing slightly ahead of the online grocery market," he added.
By Karolina Kaminska; [email protected]
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