UPDATE 1-Ocado's earnings jump on pandemic demand boost

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LONDON, Feb 9 (Reuters) - British online grocer and
technology group Ocado Group on Tuesday reported a 69%
increase in 2019-20 core earnings, boosted by the pandemic
generating huge demand for home delivery.

Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation
(EBITDA) rose to 73.1 million pounds ($101 million) in the year
to Nov. 29 2020 from 43.3 million in 2018-19. The company had
forecast earnings "over 70 million pounds".

Group revenue rose 32.7% to 2.33 billion pounds, with
revenue from the retail business, a joint venture with Marks &
Spencer, up 35% to 2.19 billion pounds.

Fees invoiced to its International Solutions partners rose
more than 52% to 123.9 million pounds.

Shares in Ocado, which have more than doubled over the last
year, closed Monday at 2,850 pence, valuing the business at 20.6
billion pounds.

That valuation has been mainly driven by demand for its
state-of-the-art robotically operated warehouses from
supermarket chains around the world, including Kroger in
the United States, Casino in France and Aeon
in Japan.

The group said retail revenue growth in 2020-21 year would
be highly dependent on the length of COVID-19 restrictions and
the timing of planned additional capacity.

Ocado plans to open three new UK warehouses in 2021 which
will provide 40% more capacity.

It forecast double-digit percentage revenue growth in its UK
Solutions & Logistics business in 2020-21, reflecting the
ramp-up of new capacity.

Revenue from its International Solutions partners was
expected to increase to around 50 million pounds, reflecting the
benefit of revenue from new warehouse sites.

($1 = 0.7256 pounds)
(Reporting by James Davey; editing by Sarah Young and Jason
Neely)