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LONDON (Alliance News) - Ocado Group PLC on Tuesday said it swung to a pretax profit in its recent financial year, on the back of a jump in revenue over the year, boosted by a rise in total sales and a higher number of customers which offset a fall in the average price of a basket over the period.
The FTSE 250-listed online grocery delivery service said its statutory pretax profit for the 52 weeks to November 30 was GBP7.2 million, compared to a GBP12.5 million loss posted a year earlier.
The company said its revenue for the year rose 20% to GBP948.9 million from GBP792.1 million in 2013, while gross sales increased to GBP972.4 million from GBP843 million, up 15%.
Its active customer numbers rose over the year, increasing to 453,000 from 385,000, despite a lower growth in its marketing spend year-on-year. The rise in customers offset a slight fall in the average cost of a basket of shopping in the period, down to GBP112.25 from GBP113.53.
"Channel shift towards online grocery shopping continued during the period. While the broader grocery market was characterised by intense competition with minimal growth in the segment, declining supermarket store sales, competitive price activity and cautious consumer spending, we continued to grow ahead of the online grocery market and significantly ahead of the market overall," said Tim Steiner, chief executive officer of Ocado.
"Overall, we are well equipped to continue to lead the online grocery revolution, in the UK and overseas, as increasing numbers of customers shift away from traditional forms of retailing. We are confident that we have significant opportunities for growth in sales and shareholder value," Steiner added.
By Sam Unsted; samunsted@alliancenews.com; @SamUAtAlliance
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