LONDON (dpa-AFX) - British online supermarket Ocado Group (OCDO.L) said it raised its full year EBITDA outlook to more than 60 million pounds from the previous guidance of more than 40 million pounds, as a result of strong performance. Sales are in line with the trends reported in the third quarter although growth rates reflect the seasonality of the quarter.
Ocado Group said that trading at Ocado Retail Ltd, a joint venture between Ocado Group plc and Marks & Spencer Group plc (MAKSY.PK, MAKSF.PK, MKS.L), has remained strong through the fourth quarter of the current financial year. Ocado continues to see high demand as consumers migrate to online grocery in record numbers.
In a separate press release, Ocado Group announced the proposed acquisition of Kindred Systems, an advanced piece-picking robotics company, for consideration of about US$262 million.
Kindred Systems has around 90 employees, about half of whom are engineers who will join Ocado's existing technology team. Kindred Systems is expected to have about 180 robots installed and operating by the end of 2020 across its growing client base, and is expected to generate revenues of over US$35 million in the calendar year 2021.
Ocado Group also announced acquisition of Haddington Dynamics, a robotic-arm designer and manufacturer, for consideration of about US$25 million. The deal will comprise a mixture of cash and new Ocado ordinary shares, comprising about US$7 million in cash and 0.6 million ordinary shares. The deal is expected to close during calendar year 2020.
Ocado expects full year 2021 revenues to increase as a result of the two acquisitions by about 30 million pounds with a small negative impact on EBITDA. The transactions will have no financial impact in the current financial year.
Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX
© 2020 AFX News
