Co-founder of Ocado steps down as the company reports £12.5m loss
Online grocer Ocado has suffered a pre-tax loss of £12.5m for the year ended 1 December, despite increasing sales growth and the company’s deal with Morrison's last year to supply a new online service. Gross sales rose by 15 per cent to £843m, with new customer acquisitions up over 40 per cent on 2012.
Analysts had expected the grocer to miss out on reporting its first pre-tax profit – it has yet to do so in 14 years of operation. However, there remains strong interest in the company, with Ocado shares rising by 400 per cent over the last year.
Tim Steiner, chief executive officer of Ocado, said:
Last year the food retail market in the UK was driven by consumers' increasing preference for shopping online. Today the momentum seems unstoppable and, as the market evolves, we are leading the way in delivering market-leading service, innovation, and technology to the benefit of our customers.
We are confident that we are well positioned to benefit from future strategic developments as online grocery shopping increases in popularity.
The results came as Ocado co-founder Jason Gissing announced he would be stepping down from the board at the Annual General Meeting in May 2014.
Tim Steiner, Ocado CEO commented:
I have worked with Jason for 20 years. Jason has led the development of our brand, and helped shape the culture inside Ocado and the way we are perceived by our customers. After our IPO he focused almost exclusively on marketing and cultural matters before taking on the role of Commercial Director.