Ocado hits five-month high after return to profit, keeping guidance

Ocado shares surged connected Tuesday aft the British online supermarket and exertion radical kept its fiscal guidance for the twelvemonth arsenic it reported a instrumentality to underlying nett successful its archetypal half.

Shares surged 15.3% to their highest since February, beating the four-month highest acceptable successful June aft a study of imaginable takeover involvement from Amazon boosted the company's stock.

The radical made net earlier interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) of 16.6 cardinal pounds ($21.7 million) successful the six months to May 28, versus a nonaccomplishment of 13.6 cardinal a twelvemonth earlier. Its Technology Solutions gross jumped 59%.

Chris Beauchamp, main marketplace expert astatine IG Group, said the astir encouraging fig had been the surge successful the Tech Solutions business.

It reminds "investors that the large anticipation for Ocado shares is that they tin licence their exertion to a wide assemblage astir the globe alternatively than being conscionable different UK supermarket," helium said.

Ocado Group has 3 parts to its concern - Ocado Retail, an online supermarket associated task with Marks & Spencer; UK Logistics, which provides fulfillment and transportation enactment to UK partners, and Technology Solutions which licenses its robot exertion for warehouses to different retailers, specified arsenic Kroger successful the United States, Aeon successful Japan and Casino successful France.

Ocado said determination was nary alteration to the fiscal guidance fixed astatine its full-year results successful February.

Jefferies analysts said the header results looked solid, with Ocado delivering connected a pledge to trim currency pain and reiterating its full-year 2023 guidance.

Ocado's brag said the institution is not looking to beryllium taken over.

"Whenever immoderate offers come, arsenic a absorption squad and a committee I've got a work to instrumentality them earnestly but it's not thing I'm retired pursuing," laminitis and CEO Tim Steiner told reporters aft Ocado reported archetypal fractional results. He declined to remark astir speculation of takeover involvement by U.S. radical Amazon.

Ocado shares surged 32% connected June 22 aft The Times paper reported speculation of imaginable bid involvement successful the online supermarket from much than 1 U.S. suitor including tech heavyweight Amazon. At the time, some companies declined to comment.