ONLINE retailer Ocado made a profit for the first time in its history – after it scraped into the black at the end of 2010.
The group, which was founded in 2000 and has a delivery deal with supermarket Waitrose, made pre-tax profits of £300,000 for its final quarter to November 28 – although it remained in the red for the full year.
Issuing its first set of results since floating on the stock market last July, Ocado said pre-tax losses more than halved to £12.2m – including £3.5m of flotation costs – from £25.5m a year earlier. Annual sales rose by 29% to £551.1m.
The group said it had maintained growth since the year-end, with sales up by 25% so far.
Shares closed 2% higher yesterday as the firm’s founders hailed a landmark year.
