Home shopping group Ocado is to float on the London Stock Exchange after interim EBITDA surged 181% to £8m.
The retailer, which sells Waitrose products and branded foods, will raise £200m from its flotation and use proceeds to increase the capacity of its customer fulfilment centre, partially fund a second such centre and develop the business further.
Ocado founder and chief executive Tim Steiner said Ocado was well placed to benefit from the growth of the online grocery market, which at present is worth about £3bn a year.
He said: “Since its inception, Ocado has been built on delivering a superior customer offering in terms of quality and freshness of produce and convenience, reliability and accurancy of delivery.
“With new long term sourcing and branding arrangements in place with Waitrose, Ocado is well placed for further growth and this IPO marks a significant milestone in the Ocado story.”
Ocado chairman Michael Grade said: “The team at Ocado has achieved an extraordinary feat in building a business from scratch to be one of the most recognised brands in UK retail.
“Ocado has a track record of consistent rapid growth in turnover and has achieved positive and increasing EBITDA. Ocado represents an exciting growth prospect with significant expansion potential both in the UK and further afield.”
In the six months to May 16, Ocado cut its operating loss by 63% to £2.7m and gross sales rose 30% to £246m. In the week beginning May 10, weekly orders topped 100,000 for the first time.
If successful, Ocado will be the second retailer to float this year. Fashion specialist SuperGroup conducted an IPO in March, but New Look was forced to postpone its planned flotation.
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