Ocado Group PLC backed its fiscal 2022 guidance on Tuesday supported by a robust fourth-quarter performance and said it has started the new fiscal year with a record Christmas performance. The online grocer and retail-technology specialist
OCDO,
+5.18%
said retail revenue came in at 549.4 million pounds ($670 million) for the 13 weeks ended 27 Nov., up 0.3% compared with the same quarter last year.
The company said that active costumers of Ocado.com rose 12.9% on the year, offset by the reducing frequency in customer shopping due to the cost-of-living crisis. Revenue for fiscal 2022 fell 3.8% to GBP2.2 billion compared with prior year. The company backed its fiscal 2022 guidance, where it expects sales to decline and to finish its fiscal year with close to break-even earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization. Looking ahead, the company said that fiscal 2023 started strongly, with sales up 15% over the five days before Christmas, and orders up 13%. “Ocado remains confident, in the light of strong customer acquisition and continued improvements to underlying productivity, that sales and Ebitda margin will recover strongly,” it added. Write to Michael Susin at michael.susin@wsj.com