British online grocer Ocado saw retail revenue grow 12% in its latest quarter, in line with its guidance for the year, as new capacity helped it win new customers.
The firm said its retail revenue was £390.7 million in the 13 weeks to Dec. 2, its fiscal fourth quarter, having risen 11.5% in the previous quarter.
In July Ocado forecast retail revenue growth of 10-15% for the full 2017-18 year.
Share Price Increase
Shares in Ocado have risen 126% over the last year thanks to four major overseas technology partnerships, including its biggest yet with U.S. group Kroger.
"Our unrelenting focus on delivering consistent high levels of service and value to our customers in the U.K. has produced another quarter of satisfying growth," commented Tim Steiner, Ocado chief executive.
"Although in many respects 2018 has been a transformative year for Ocado, the story has only just begun. We look forward to the coming year and continuing to turn our substantial opportunities into sustainable value for all our stakeholders".
New Capacity
Ocado said new capacity it had brought on stream at its robotic distribution centres in Andover, southern England, and Erith, near London, had enabled it to achieve double-digit growth in new customer acquisitions in the fourth quarter.
Average orders per week rose 13.1% to 320,000, though average order size did dip 1.0% to £104.90.
Shares in Ocado closed Wednesday at 793.6 pence, valuing the business at £5.43 billion.
News by Reuters, edited by ESM. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: European Supermarket Magazine.
