Ocado has posted a £374.5m loss in its full-year results despite a 14.1% increase in total group revenue to £3.2bn.

While the loss was a £19.1m improvement on the online grocer’s figure for 2023, shares in Ocado have fallen by as much as 16% in today’s market trading.

Ocado, posting its annual figures for the year to 1 December 2024, did report a rise in adjusted EBITDA to £153.3m across the group, with the FTSE 250 listed company’s loss mainly driven by additional depreciation and amortisation.

The grocer, which employs more than 20,000 people, also revealed it may cut 500 technology and finance jobs in favour of AI, in order to reduce costs.

CEO, Tim Steiner, said that the company had last year “delivered a shift in the potential of robotics and automation” to improve retail supply chains.

“Our latest technologies have begun to roll out at scale to Ocado’s global partners,” he added.

“At the same time, online continues to drive the greatest share of organic growth in the global grocery market. Our partners are well set-up to take advantage of this growth with Ocado’s technology, and we have a strong prospect pipeline across grocery, non-grocery and logistics.”

Head of markets at interactive investor, Richard Hunter, commented that Ocado’s reputation as a “jam tomorrow” stock was being “slightly eroded”.

“Despite the progress there remains some way to go before the group can declare victory in its previous strategic intentions,” Hunter added.

“While the outlook is upbeat, such optimism has tended not to have been delivered in the past, and the growth projections are certainly insufficient to quell the doubts which investors have long since harboured.

“The shares are finding few friends in opening trades, with sellers pushing against an open door and the decline adds to a fall prior to this update of 32% over the last year, as compared to an increase of 7.5% for the wider FTSE 250. The three-year decline of 75% in the price seems to be increasingly irreversible, and the market consensus of a hold could yet be subject to further negative pressure.”

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