Ocado (LON: OCDO) has reported an 11.5 percent rise in sales in the latest quarter, sending shares up over four percent.
For the 13 weeks to September 2, the online grocer received an average of 283,000 orders per week with average order size staying at £106.
Tim Steiner, the group’s chief executive, said the growth in sales was met by the new robotic warehouses at Andover and Erith.
“The new capacity from Andover and Erith, our robotic third and fourth warehouses, is helping meet consumer demand for our services and drive the channel shift which is transforming grocery retailing in the UK. We are proud to have opened our Erith Customer Fulfilment Centre this summer on time and on budget,” he said in a statement.
“At full capacity, this latest state-of-the-art CFC will be the largest automated warehouse for online grocery in the world. We are delighted to report that last week Erith processed over 20,000 customer orders 14 weeks after opening, a number which took Andover 15 months to achieve. Together, Andover and Erith provide new opportunities for growth in our UK retail business while showcasing the scalability, adaptability and efficiency of our platform.”
Laith Khalaf from Hargreaves Lansdown said: “Ocado continues to experience growth in its UK operations, though it’s the promise of overseas expansion which has seen the share price treble in the last year.”
“Ocado recently achieved promotion to the FTSE 100 and its equity market value is now greater than the likes of Morrison’s, Royal Mail and M&S. It still needs to turn overseas partnerships into profits, and details of its commercial relationships with US retailer Kroger are still being hammered out.”
Analysts at Peel Hunt are excited about the group’s investment in new technologies.
The new warehouse at Erith processed 20,000 customer orders in one week using the new technology. The older warehouse in Andover took 15 months to reach the same level of operation.
“Ocado’s proprietary technology provides better customer service, higher efficiency, greater margin potential, and is now being licensed to third parties across the globe as a pick and shovel play on e-commerce,” said Peel Hunt in a note.