Ocado sticks to expansion plans despite trebling losses

Ocado is sticking to its expansion plans despite losses trebling. The online grocer, which also builds robotic warehouses for others, saidits technology still provided the “best economics”. The company now has 13 robotic warehouses globally after opening five last year, and it plans to open a further nine this financial year with retail partners in the US, Sweden, Canada and Britain. Ocado said it remained “in conversation with a number of retailers and continues to target further deals”. Ocado chief executive Tim Steiner said these new warehouses would not have its new generation of grids or lighter robots – a “transformational leap” unveiled by Ocado unveiled two weeks ago. Ocado revealed a 7.2% rise in revenue to £2.5bn in the year to November. However, its pretax loss widened from £52m to £177m. The Times (£)