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magazineShares in Ocado are down 44% in 12 months as the company closes key facility
Unwelcome news follows more unwelcome news for online grocery specialist Ocado (OCDO).
Back in February the company reported half a billion-pound loss for 2022 and warned that basket sizes in its UK retail joint venture with Marks & Spencer (MKS) were shrinking.
Over the past year, its shares are down 44% to 504p. And, when the online grocer revealed on 25 April that it was to shut its original customer fulfilment centre at Hatfield in Hertfordshire, putting 2,300 jobs at risk, it was time for Ocado investors to brace themselves again.
The news was snuck out after the traditional rush of stock market announcements and represented something of a surprise given the company had given little indication of its intention to close the facility in its recent updates to the market.
Shore Capital analyst Clive Black says: ‘We feel for those losing jobs in Hatfield. We hope that reality dawning will make Ocado Retail and Ocado Group more realistic and so potentially more financially sustainable. Ocado has been a remarkable story where the extended good fortune, luck, may be running out.’
Disclaimer: The author (Sabuhi Gard) owns shares in Ocado.
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