Ocado has blamed capacity constraints – and the recent bank holidays – for a slowdown in second-quarter sales growth.
The online retailer revealed today that it expected to deliver growth of 21% in the first half of the year, which ends on 15 May. The latest performance comes after it posted a 24.7% increase in the first quarter.
Ocado also announced in its AGM statement today that it had leased 100,000 sq ft warehouse close to Hatfield to help further develop its non-food business.
A spokesman for Ocado stressed to The Grocer that it was “still profitable” and attributed the slowdown to the higher incidence of holidays and the retailer being “capacity-constrained” rather than competition from Waitrose.
“Ocado continues to see strong demand and growth across all areas of the business,” the company said in its trading statement.
Construction of its second CFC in Warwickshire commenced as planned before Easter. The site should be completed by the end of next year.
News of the sales slowdown sent Ocado’s share price tumbling this morning, the value of its stock falling by as much as 9.5% at one stage.
Read more
Chains take strain as demand soars over bank holiday period (7 May 2011)
eBay exec to sit on Ocado board of directors (16 April 2011)
Ocado nabs Tesco man Belsham for non-food role (21 March 2011)
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