Ocado Group’s full-year losses narrowed to £394m as the technology company and its retail business returned to profit.
The figures, which include a £187m settlement reached with robotic warehouse AutoStore, represent a £107m improvement on last year.
The Group saw adjusted EBITDA of £51.6m, up £125.7m from a previous loss of £74.1m, while Ocado Retail – its joint venture with M&S – returned to positive adjusted EBITDA of £10.4m in the 53 weeks to 3 December 2023.
The business said it made “good progress” last year, with annual results in line with or better than its guidance.
Group sales were up 9.9% to £2.8bn over the period, while sales also rose 7% at Ocado Retail.
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Ocado said that the retail business, which underwent its ‘Perfect Execution’ programme, resulted in a “strong trading performance and cost efficiencies in all areas of the business”.
It follows a strong fourth quarter trading period for the joint venture, having celebrated its “biggest Christmas ever” as sales jumped 10.9%.
Ocado Group chief executive Tim Steiner said: “Ocado Retail, our JV with M&S in the UK, has had significant success growing customer numbers, taking online grocery market share and rebuilding profitability, proving, once again, the attractions of our online model.
“These are all big, tangible steps forward which demonstrate that our passion and talent for innovation is delivering significant growth. There is, of course, much more to come and much more to do.”
He added that in the year ahead, the Group expects further progress on Ocado Retail’s “trajectory to restore an industry-leading EBITDA margin over the midterm”.
It comes as M&S has put its final payment instalment of £190.7m for the Ocado Retail joint venture to Ocado Group on hold after the online supermarket tie-up missed key performance targets.
