Oh deary, this delivery service was spun out of Waitrose, DYOR and is now spewing out lots of green messages all over, for those shoppers that want home-delivery. Yet, oddly it seems in London next year Waitrose will launch its own delivery -( seems a bit "stupid" - eh?)
Meanwhile, the sp starts at 1.60 and slips a tad ( yet to make a Profit, but it's closer than those Dot-Com lunatic days..)....about 1.64 close today......yet, their Customers were offered a bung of shares at the Float-price....eh? (Well, it helps it get-away, I suppose.).

Chairman Michael Grade is said to be "very happy" with the discounted Float, but he gets shares to the value of a something-Bonus. However, some commentaters suggest he's not the right man for this business (or a.....).

Ocado - Grief, it's an Ugly name. They were so close to Car-Go, or Green-Del (er, perhaps?). It was also associated with John Lewis Group, but DYOR.

The BAD News is that today an RNS shows the level of Director support (did he "miss out" - or did his Broker missunderstand the word Goodbye...?
Director buys 3k's worth.....Ouch. That must upset anyone like me that thinks any Dir purchase of 50k+ is Goood. . . . . and anything under 10k is really Baaad.


Good Luck, this is an established business...


EDIT -(22Oct10)- 147p
EDIT (29Nov2017)- sp 362p= up 17% - maybe expecting a bid/contract

i think this is horribly overpriced, as borne out when i tried to short just now ..... managed it with difficulty (196.6), so it looks as though latest strength is just a jolly bear squeeze



just 25 and 50 dma .... stock too recent for 200 dma

UBS broker note today:
"Updating valuation price target rises to 197p (from 167p) We have updated our valuation framework for Ocado to reflect the new calendar year as well as some significant share price movements within the valuation peer group. Our valuation methodology an average of EV/Sales, EV/EBITDA and DCF remains unchanged. Our Price Target for Ocado rises to 197p from 167p.

Rising peer group valuations Stronger equity markets towards the end of 2010 contributed to some material increases in the valuation levels of Ocados comparable peer group. This was most marked in the cases of Amazon (shares +45% from the time of our initiation on Ocado) and Asos (shares +70%). Although other peer group companies (eg UK food retail stocks) did not experience such emphatic gains, this has naturally influenced our valuation arithmetic.

No new operational news two data points within the next month We are not making any changes to our underlying forecasts at this stage. The company will issue a Q4 (to November) and Christmas trading statement on 10th January, followed by preliminary results on 1 February which will provide more colour on the progress of the business.

Rating downgraded to Neutral from Buy Although our PT rises to 197p, we are downgrading our rating to Neutral from Buy as the strong recent run in the shares (+36% since 31 August) means there is now insufficient upside to merit a Buy rating.

[Edit: For information, theres about 16% of the free float getting shorted at present time of posting]

"this market may not be sold to open due to stock borrowing restrictions in the underlying market" - IGIndex

annoying

try phoning IG - you may be lucky

the numbers are a joke relative to sp ..... OCDO are still making operating losses, and all the CEO prattles on about is their hugely increased t/o ..... bet all the directors draw salaries in direct disproportion to the profits too! .... no wonder the world wants to short this stock

Gross sales for the 52 weeks to 28 November 2010 rose 29% to 551.1m from a year before.

i felt over-invested generally so decided to bank a useful little profit here, not least because sp seemed disinclined to fall even after the results

Can't believe this ....when they mean turnover ..is it total value of goods transported ?...that's not profit.....would love to short this soon......

this is worrying ..... you and i agreeing! ...... sure am glad i closed my previous short though

1.2 billion pounds for a fleet of lorries...a delivery service ?...I can do it cheaper...

i was a bit late, but shorted these today around today's closing price ...... another indian rope trick

That's a clever trick - what is today's closing price?

228 or thereabouts ...... actually shorted at 228.7

easy dough right now imp

nice little earner here today - hope some others grabbed some on the bounce

hmmmmmmm - i tink i may have a little tickle again in here monday! the jl sell off managed by goldman was to other iis @ 165p!! more easy cash monday depending on sp obviously
reason for sell nowt to do with ocdo but pension fund strategy to limit % shares in anyone co. and was expected anyhow hence the bounce and more monday no doubt lol!

Retail having a bad time.

A record high of nearly one in three consumers say they have no spare cash, according to the retailers representative the British Retail Consortium (BRC).

According to its survey, which was conducted with the information group Neilsen, 65% of consumers have switched to cheaper grocery brands to save on household expenditure. Higher utility bills and fuel prices are squeezing consumers, the BRC says.

BRC chief executive Stephen Robertson claimed that competition within the grocery sector is helping to take the edge off price inflation, with a larger number of promotions and discounts on offer.

Despite increased penny-pinching and the higher number of consumers with no spare cash, the BRC reported a five point rise in its consumer confidence index.

The extra bank holiday and warm spring provided a little light relief for shoppers and perhaps diverted thoughts away from the incessant squeeze on incomes, but sentiment is no higher than it was two years ago when the UK was in the grip of recession, said Chris Morley, Neilsens managing director for the UK and Ireland, said.

Separately, Robertson said that recent riots are likely to be the final straw for many shops that had been struggling with tough trading conditions.

Goldman Sachs downgrades Ocado forecasts amid City concern.


Online retailer Ocado has been dealt its latest blow from the City after Goldman Sachs, its house broker, sharply downgraded its forecasts for the group.

Goldman, which helped lead Ocado's flotation in July last year, downgraded its revenue and profit forecasts and reduced its six-month share price target for the retailer from 297p to 225p.

Ocado's float was priced at 180p. The downgrade comes just weeks before Ocado is due to post its latest trading figures and risks further souring the company's relationship with City investors and analysts.

Tim Steiner, Ocado's chief executive, told The Daily Telegraph in June that the retailer was experiencing "growing pains" and that the company "would have liked to have grown a bit faster than this", leading to warnings of subsequent analyst downgrades.

Forecasts for earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (Ebitda) were also revised lower, down 7pc this year and by 15pc in 2012.

Ocado moved into the black for the first time, with a 174,000 pretax profit in the quarter to May 15, but said that the pace of growth year-on-year had slowed due to capacity constraints.

"The capacity constraints are there but we'll get through them," Mr Steiner said, adding that plans for a second distribution centre remained on track, with completion due by the end of 2012.

Goldman's revision comes a month after Panmure Gordon analyst Philip Dorgan found that Ocado's brokers had sharply reduced their estimates for the retailer since its flotation.

Mr Dorgan said sales estimates for the online retailer had been downgraded by 30pc, Ebitda forecasts by 45pc and estimates for pre-tax profits by an eye-watering 62pc. He described the scale of the downgrades as "simply astonishing" and said he saw "considerable future downside to forecasts".

Serious meltdown... 50p soon.

SP was boosted by statement that Sales were up over Christmas, due to better weather . . . eh?
I thought they were a "delivery" company - so what's this "Sales" and why do people need more stuff when the weather is good...? No, I don't follow, but a 30% rise is good, until you realise it's MM being silly . . . watch it tumble.

hlyeo98 could be right (50p), if this goes on much longer. . . glad I stayed away.

Tuesday also brings us important half-time results from Ocado , the online groceries business that started out delivering for Waitrose supermarket. Following a brief rise after its flotation in mid 2010, Ocado shares slumped as investors worked out that its economics were questionable and significant further funding would be needed to get its revenues up high enough.

We still need to see how the firm's warehouse expansion is to be paid for, and how long it will be before profit levels can justify the current share price. I reckon it might be some time yet.

..Ocado shares fall on Olympic worries

......
Shares in Ocado, the online grocery business, fell heavily after it admitted that it had lost out during the Jubilee weekend and could be hit by disruption caused by the Olympics.

In sharp contrast to the major supermarket chains, which reported a boost in sales thanks to the Jubilee celebrations, Ocado said it has missed out because it could not send out extra vans to supply customers.

The company’s comments were made as it reported a modest half-year profit and a further loosening of ties with its main supplier Waitrose.

Tim Steiner, the chief executive, said extra holidays were difficult to respond to: “Grocery chains hire a bunch of temporary staff and allow an unpleasant atmosphere in store as it gets crowded.”

He said that sales during the final quarter of the year had been hit by 1pc to 2pc, roughly the equivalent to about £1.5m to £3m.

He said could not predict how the Olympics would affect business. “None of us know if it is going to increase demand, or whether it will increase the costs of delivery.”

These comments, along with a warning that the consumer economy remained tough encouraging customers to buy fewer items on each shop caused the shares to fall 20.1 to 88p.

Analysts said they were concerned at how competitive the market was becoming, with Asda (NYSE: WMT - news) , Sainsbury’s and Tesco (LSE: TSCO.L - news) all offering a greater amount of food on promotion.

Mr Steiner insisted that Ocado was not giving away a substantially more vouchers to attract new customers 2.6pc of its sales, up from 2.4pc the year before.

The company has pushed its own-brand line of food, and a growing range of non-food, further lessening its reliance on Waitrose. Eight in ten customers now put an Ocado-branded item in their basket. Fewer than 40pc of goods it sells now come from Waitrose. The deal Waitrose has to supply Ocado comes to an end in 2020.

it revealed pre-tax profits rose to £181,000 in the 24 weeks to May 13 from £174,000 in the same period last year on turnover up 12pc to £332m.

In December shares in Ocado fell to an all-time low after the troubled retailer warned that continued problems at its Hatfield distribution centre would mean yet another year of pre-tax losses.

The highest number of orders delivered in a week exceeded 138,000 during the period.

Joseph Robinson, senior consultant at research agency Conlumino, said: "Ocado seems to have long left behind the issues that have besieged its Hatfield site, and so impinged its 2011 numbers, with its update representing a pleasing performance.

"However, significant question marks remains over the long-term potential for the Ocado model to achieve profitability. Moreover, in the shorter-term, the retailer will encounter an intensifying competitive environment, as its rivals continue to pour investment into pricing and promotions to drive market share."

Meanwhile, Ocado has revealed that former B&Q chief financial officer Duncan Tatton-Brown will join the company in the same role

Easy short money here, going sub 60p, nay bother. Aye.

Ocado's shares are continuing their slide following its disappointing first half update in June, with joint broker Goldman Sachs adding to the misery by cutting its recommendation from buy to neutral.

Many in the industry believe a standalone online operation is at a disadvantage without a physical store to help defray costs.

Goldman has issued a negative note, reducing its six month price target from 140p to 110p. The bank's analyst Karen Hooi said:

We downgrade Ocado and revise our estimates and price target following the first half . Since upgrading Ocado to buy on 1 March 2011, the shares are down 60.2% versus our Europe Small & Mid Cap universe. We believe the underperformance is due to continued concerns on Ocado's capacity expansion capability and the potential impact from rising competition on its revenue growth.

This is bad news for finance director Duncan Tatton-Brown, who bought 50,000 shares at 98.91p each. His wife Kate bought the same amount at 99.57p. At the moment they are sitting on a loss of more than £24,500 between them.

Next Thursday we'll have an interim statement from online grocer Ocado , covering the 12 weeks to 5 August. It's had a rocky ride since flotation in 2010. Although the shares did briefly breach 250p, they're currently trading for less than half their 180p flotation price, at 74p.

There are several reasons for bearishness, but the biggest is fears over the firm's ability to get its capacity high enough to achieve any kind of meaningful profit without needing fresh capital. Still, the coming year could be the turnaround point from loss into profit, so this looks like being an important update.

You would think that Olympic fever would have been good for online retailers. Who wanted to tear themselves away from the telly to shop? Yet for Ocado, the web grocer, this doesn’t appear to have been the case. Investors will find out on Thursday, when the company unveils third-quarter earnings. Barclays has pencilled in a slowdown in sales growth, from 13% to 11%. The Olympic effect, however, is a one-off. More pressing concerns remain. Can Ocado keep its lenders at bay while it struggles to establish a steadily profitable business? Through the first six months of the year, it eked out a pre-tax profit of £200,000. As it works out the kinks of its first big warehouse, and puts the finishing touches to its second, things should improve. Meanwhile, the company is getting dangerously close to breaching the terms of a £100m loan. Ocado is nearing the end of its big investment programme, and sales are on the rise, but if even if all goes perfectly, it is cutting it fine. Barclays said: “Our forecasts do not imply a breach of covenants, but nor do we expect much headroom. Ocado’s lenders may cut some slack to the company given the clear tipping point in view.” Fingers crossed, writes The Sunday Times´ Danny Fortson.

Ocado also crept 0.45 lower to 73.6p ahead of the release of a trading update on Thursday. Pessimistic Panmure Gordon analyst Philip Dorgan reiterated his view that the group’s days as a public company are “limited” and cautioned investors “we don’t think that the equity is worth very much”.

The finance director and his wife bought OCDO at 99p a month ago. Looks like he has no clue how his company's doing...


Online grocery store Ocado Group (OCDO) saw sales growth in its third quarter, ended 5th August, slow to 9.9%, bringing total growth for the first three quarters of the year to 11.3%. The company blamed the decline on disruptions caused by the Queen's Jubilee and Olympics, although it noted that it was able to preserve margins by not resorting to short-term vouchering activity. The firm hopes to see increased sales growth in the final quarter, but does not expect consumer volatility to end any time soon. The shares sank by 2.8p to 64.4p.

Not one I follow - but the chart looks interesting.

yep agree with skinny.

Had these guys last sat and from online order everything was perfect.

Polite deliveryman, 97p delivery charge on a saturday...(others a £5
iver)

Great bags and strong.

Grub evens with most, BUT still more expensive than ASDA.

ASDA is nos 1 around here W Yorkshire, cant beat it.

Waiting for then to list.

Tesco gone down the nick.

Sainsbury expensive but no better quality.

yep agree with skinny.

Had these guys last sat and from online order everything was perfect.

Polite deliveryman, 97p delivery charge on a saturday...(others a £5
iver)

Great bags and strong.

Grub evens with most, BUT still more expensive than ASDA.

ASDA is nos 1 around here W Yorkshire, cant beat it.

Waiting for then to list.

Tesco gone down the nick.

Sainsbury expensive but no better quality.

A double endorsement!

Breakout on cards...........

20 Dec Ocado Group Plc OCDO Exane BNP Paribas Outperform 0.00 79.95 90.00 90.00 Reiterates

SP TARGET 90p.

Going very well this morning...nice.

23.69% of stock on loan as of 17th Dec.

HEYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY.

sCHHHHH sCHHHHHH

Sugar.

Im going for it then Skinny ....head first.

GLADIATOR.

Marks or morrisons will take this out @£2.00 min imho.

Interim Management Statement

Strategic and operational highlights

· Our second customer fulfilment centre at Dordon, Warwickshire ("CFC2") became fully operational during the period, with stock building commencing in January and first customer orders being delivered on 24 February. The ramp up of CFC2 is progressing well.

· The Hatfield Customer Fulfilment Centre ("CFC1") continues to operate with improved efficiency.

· Our first dedicated non-food distribution centre became fully operational in January, one month ahead of schedule, supporting the strategy for further sales and range growth in non-food.

· We continued to improve our customer offering through the introduction of the Ocado Smart Pass which combines the benefits of our popular Delivery Pass and Saving Pass schemes, to give greater value and service to more of our customers.

Ocado confirms talks re technology agreement

Ocado Group PLC (" Ocado") confirms that it is in discussions with Wm. Morrison Supermarkets Plc ("Morrison") which may lead to an agreement to license certain of Ocado's existing and future intellectual property ("IP") and operating knowledge for the purposes of Morrison commencing an online grocery business in the UK.

These negotiations do not involve any discussion of Morrison acquiring either the whole of, or an equity stake in, Ocado.

Any such agreement would be complementary to Ocado's existing partnership with Waitrose, which would be unaffected by any potential agreement with Morrison.

Both parties are working towards an agreement and a further announcement will be made in due course. However, discussions are ongoing and there can be no certainty that an agreement will be reached.

Hey hlyeo.....looks like the FD does know how his company is doing.....LOL

Good news for LT Shareholders, but is the Business-Model really fixed - I'm not convinced, although new CEO is the right man - perhaps that's the hope, even before a clear strategy performs well. SR is a very smart guy, IMHO. . . . and this (turnaround) would be a crowning achievement..... good luck...

AGM Statement

At today's Annual General Meeting of Ocado Group plc (Ocado), the online supermarket, the company will make the following statement:

"Ocado has continued to make significant progress as the Chairmanship passes from Lord Grade to Sir Stuart Rose.

The company has continued to grow sales as it benefits from increasing loyalty and spend from existing customers and attracts new shoppers, supported by further expansion in customer demand for online grocery shopping.

In February 2013 operations commenced at Ocado's second Customer Fulfilment Centre at Dordon, Warwickshire, which opened on time and on budget, and provides the operational platform for significant future growth.

Ocado is in discussions with Wm. Morrison Supermarkets Plc (Morrison) which may lead to an agreement to facilitate Morrison commencing an online business in the UK. Any such agreement would be complementary to Ocado's existing partnership with Waitrose, which would be unaffected by any potential agreement with Morrison - product would continue to be sourced with Waitrose, and Ocado customers would continue to buy exclusively from the existing Ocado, Waitrose and branded ranges.

Ocado reconfirms that the arrangements under discussion do not involve Morrison acquiring either the whole of, or an equity stake in, Ocado. Discussions are ongoing, and there can be no certainty that an agreement will be reached. A further announcement on this topic will be made in due course.

The Board is encouraged by the progress of the business so far this year, and believes the company is well placed to exploit the fast growth in online grocery retailing."

Exane BNP Paribas Outperform 0.00 225.00 300.00 Retains

HSBC Underweight 0.00 95.00 - Reiterates

Deutsche Bank Sell 505.00 505.00 - 440.00 Initiates/Starts

OCDO Ocado trading ahead on last trading statement last week. Shorters will close adding to SP north move. 404p first target. If it follows last years actions PIs should be well in the money.

22 Dec 2014 Ocado Group Plc OCDO Numis Buy 386.85 381.50 500.00 500.00 Reiterates

SP TARGET 500p

as a company, i think OCDO now looks to be on the right track anyway
Beloved has started using them and is much impressed by the service .....
and yes, i do hold

Trading Statement

below is from wednesday lunchtime .......


Ocado shares down 8.1% as fire damage worsens at UK hub
StockMarketWire.com
Shares in online grocery retailer Ocado remained under pressure after it confirmed a fire at its Andover distribution centre in southern England had worsened overnight and would hurt sales volumes.

'Unfortunately the fire which started yesterday morning in a corner of the ambient grid was not contained as we believed, and last night expanded,' the company said.

'Whilst we are informed by the Fire Brigade that it is now under control, during the night part of the roof collapsed and there has been substantial damage to the majority of the building and its contents.'

Ocado said it would update the market when it had time to assess the damage and return the customer fulfilment centre to operation.

'As Andover was providing approximately 10% of our current capacity, as a result of this incident there will be a constraint on our ability to meet our growing customer demand and there will be a reduction in sales growth until we can increase capacity elsewhere,' it said.

'Ocado has comprehensive insurance for the property, stock and equipment on site, and for business interruption losses.'