Warehouse fire behind Ocado’s £214m loss

The blaze broke out at an automated warehouse in Andover, Hampshire in February 2019. 

Heavy investment in new facilities is also said to have contributed to the loss.

However, Ocado is forecasting a more than doubling of capital expenditure in its new financial year. 

Ocado’s shares have also risen 35% over the last year thanks to it securing overseas technology deals.

Chief executive Tim Steiner said: “Although statutory results reflected a combination of factors, including the impact of the Andover fire, the underlying performance of Ocado Retail and the successful growth of Ocado Solutions were very encouraging.”

He added that the first half of this year will see the opening of state-of-the-art robotic customer fulfilment centres for its international partners.