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LONDON, Dec 14 (Reuters) - British online supermarket Ocado
Retail on Tuesday reported a 3.9% fall in revenue in its latest
quarter year-on-year, with its performance held back by labour
shortages.
Ocado Retail, a joint venture between Ocado Group
and Marks & Spencer, said revenue totaled 547.8 million
pounds ($723.7 million) in its fourth quarter to Nov. 28 versus
570.1 million pounds in the same quarter last year.
The joint venture said that early in the quarter, headcount
decreased across its delivery and customer fulfilment centre
(CFC) roles due to changing conditions in the post-COVID-19
lockdown UK labour market but added that vacancies had since
returned to more normal levels.
It said average customer orders per week were up 8.5% to
375,100 versus the prior year, driven by a 22% increase in
active customers to 832,000.
However, the average basket's value fell 12% to 118 pounds
as many consumers returned to the office and spent less time at
home.
The venture said that the participation of M&S products in
orders continued to be strong, at nearly 30% of the basket.
It also highlighted cost inflation due to nationwide utility
price increases and dry ice shortages and is mitigating these
through various management measures.
Ocado's revenue had fallen 10.6% in its third quarter, hurt
by a July fire at its warehouse in Erith, southeast London,
which disrupted operations.
The JV said the 2020-21 outturn was expected to be in line
with guidance.
It forecast a return to mid-teens revenue growth in 2022, at
the top of the historic pre-COVID-19 range of 10-15% and plans
investments of around 50 million pounds in 2022 across a variety
of areas to support growth.
($1 = 0.7569 pounds)
(Reporting by James Davey; Editing by Kate Holton and Louise
Heavens)
