Ocado holds guidance as Q3 retail sales rise 7.2%

(Sharecast News) - Online grocer and technology company Ocado maintained annual guidance after a 7.2% rise in third-quarter retail revenues. The company, 50% owned by Marks & Spencer, said retail sales came in at £569.6m from £531m a year earlier, with a return to positive volume growth in the last month of the quarter.

Active customers reached 961,000, up 1.5% year-on-year. The number of mature customers - defined as those who have made a fifth shop - grew 6.6%.

Average basket value was up 4.2% while basket size, measured by the number of items purchased, remained "broadly stable" quarter-on-quarter at 44 items per order, Ocado said on Tuesday.

Reporting by Frank Prenesti for Sharecast.com