Buoyant Ocado profit up as unveils fundraising

0 Ocado’s revenues also benefit from tie-up with Morrisons supermarket group Ocado has posted a 20 per cent lift in earnings fuelled by price increases and a cut in promotions, and disclosed yesterday that it is exploring plans to raise about £200 million to bankroll expansion.

The online food retailer said underlying earnings rose to £37.6 million in the 22 weeks to end-april, up from £31.2m in the 20 weeks to 17 April, following changes to its financial calendar.

Pre-taxprofitrose45percent to £6.7m amid the reduced promotions and limited price increases for some products while revenue was boosted 24 per cent to £600.4m partly due to its delivery deal with supermarket group Morrisons.

Ocado also announced plans to raise fresh funding through senior debt that will be used in part to repay its revolving credit facility as well as fund company expansion.

“The proceeds of the offering will support the continued growth of our UK retail capacity, and further improvements to our proprietary platform,” Ocado said.