Ocado is “run for cashflow”, according to its management; not an objective elucidated by its accounts. The FTSE 100 group blazed through another £320 million in the first six months of this year — about a quarter of the net cash on its balance sheet at the end of last year. The total generated by the business was less than half last year’s level, at £10.3 million.
Pre-tax losses widened to £290 million from £211 million over the same period last year. Turning a statutory profit is not something Ocado will achieve any time soon, with analysts forecasting a loss of £115 million in 2027.
The costly expansion of its “solutions” business, which licenses its warehouse and logistics technology out to other retailers, continues to
