Ocado forecasts acceleration in sales growth

The company, which mostly sells the products of upmarket grocer Waitrose via a fleet of brightly coloured vans, said today gross sales increased 10.9 per cent to £162.1m in the 12 weeks to Feb. 19.

That was in line with company guidance of first quarter sales growth of around 10 per cent and compares with growth of 10.8 per cent in the fourth quarter.

Ocado, founded in 2000 by three former Goldman Sachs bankers, said average orders per week increased by 13.4 per cent to 116,987 in the first quarter, although average order size fell to £115.49 from £118.06.

The firm said 93.2 per cent of orders were delivered on time or early, up 0.9 percentage points year-on-year, while 98.2 per cent of items were delivered as ordered, up 0.2 percentage points.

The firm’s 2011 earnings were hit by higher staffing costs as it battled to overcome capacity constraints at its main distribution depot in Hatfield, north of London.

Ocado said Hatfield was now operating at record levels of capacity with further improvements due to come on stream in the second quarter.

Shares in Ocado, which have lost nearly half of their value since floating at 180 pence in July 2010, closed Friday at 103 pence, valuing the business at about £554m.