Ocado Group plc has announced its trading statement for the 13 weeks to 3 March 2019. Growth in Revenue (Retail) of 11.2% at £404.0m, which was impacted by the fire at Customer Fulfilment Centre (CFC) in Andover in February, equivalent to 1.2% of sales in the quarter.
There was strong underlying growth in average orders per week of 314,000, up 11.3% in like-for-likes. The average order size was £110.24, down 0.2%.
Continued progress was made at the Erith Customer Fulfilment Centre, which is now processing nearly 37,000 orders per week
The 50/50 joint venture with M&S announced during the period, which will transform online grocery shopping in the UK.
As at 3 March 2019 the group had cash and cash equivalents of £390.7m and external borrowings of £288.5m.
CEO Tim Steiner said, 'Our first quarter was characterised by continued strong underlying growth in Ocado Retail but also the initial impact of the fire at our CFC in Andover on our headline numbers.
'The fire has been a setback, but it will be only a temporary one. Over the last few weeks, our teams have been working hard to minimise any disruption to our customers and we will build a state-of-the-art replacement facility that reflects all the innovations and improvements we have made since Andover opened in November 2016.
'At the same time we all remain focused on delivering customers the very best service, quality, choice and value. Our commitment to these objectives underpinned the underlying progress we made in the quarter.
'With the Joint Venture signed with M&S at the end of February, Ocado Retail has never been in a stronger position to lead channel shift while constantly setting the bar for excellence in online grocery in the UK. We are looking forward to the future with excitement and determination'.
Update on Andover fire
Following the fire at CFC3 in Andover, which began in the early hours of 5 February, a thorough examination of the causes is currently being undertaken.
All efforts are being made currently to minimise the disruption to consumers including setting up a temporary spoke in Andover. The firm has plans that are being worked on to provide more CFC capacity, which include growing the capacity in Erith faster than envisaged.
An analysis of the optimum solutions for rebuilding has begun and Ocado will inform the market in due course on its plans to replace this capacity in both the short and medium term and the impact that these will have on our target for 10-15% Retail Revenue growth in 2019.