British online grocer and technology group Ocado Group PLC said it had signed a new deal to develop Alcampo’s online business in Spain, as the COVID-19 pandemic continues to drive the shift to online grocery buying and helped boost revenues in its home market.
For its first half, which covered the 26 weeks to May 30, Ocado posted a 20 percent rise in retail revenue to ￡1.2 billion (US$1.66 billion). Lockdowns in the UK during the period drew new customers to its joint venture with Marks & Spencer Group PLC.
Ocado has said that the pandemic has resulted in a permanent shift to online grocery shopping, helping boost demand for its technology offering with retailers around the world.
It signed a new contract yesterday with Auchan Retail International SA for its Alcampo business in Spain which is to use the Ocado Smart Platform to help expand its online business across the country.
Under the deal, the pair would build a customer fulfillment center to serve the Madrid region from 2024, with additional centers to follow.
To date, Ocado’s state-of-the-art robotic technology has signed partnership deals with supermarket groups including Kroger Co in the US, Casino Guichard-Perrachon SA in France and Aeon Co in Japan.
“As we head towards a post-COVID-19 future, it is increasingly clear that the landscape for grocery worldwide has changed, for good,” Ocado chief executive Tim Steiner said.
“We continue to build strong partnerships with our clients and win new clients,” Steiner said.
The company added that it remained in conversation with potential new customers.
Separately, British supermarket group J Sainsbury PLC yesterday beat expectations for first-quarter sales, although growth did slow sharply reflecting a tough comparison with last year when shoppers stocked up for a first COVID-19 lockdown.
The group, which trails market leader Tesco PLC in annual sales, said like-for-like sales, excluding fuel, rose 1.6 percent in the 16 weeks to June 26, its fiscal first quarter — versus analysts’ average forecast of a fall of 1.7 percent and a rise of 11.3 percent in the previous quarter.
Sainsbury’s said sales of grocery, general merchandise and clothing were all higher than its expectations throughout the quarter.
It said it had further tough comparables ahead as pandemic restrictions continue to ease and customer behavior normalizes.
ISSUES: Gogoro has been struggling with ballooning losses and was recently embroiled in alleged subsidy fraud, using Chinese-made components instead of locally made parts Gogoro Inc (睿能創意), the nation’s biggest electric scooter maker, yesterday said that its chairman and CEO Horace Luke (陸學森) has resigned amid chronic losses and probes into the company’s alleged involvement in subsidy fraud. The board of directors nominated Reuntex Group (潤泰集團) general counsel Tamon Tseng (曾夢達) as the company’s new chairman, Gogoro said in a statement. Ruentex is Gogoro’s biggest stakeholder. Gogoro Taiwan general manager Henry Chiang (姜家煒) is to serve as acting CEO during the interim period, the statement said. Luke’s departure came as a bombshell yesterday. As a company founder, he has played a key role in pushing for the
CROSS-STRAIT TENSIONS: The US company could switch orders from TSMC to alternative suppliers, but that would lower chip quality, CEO Jensen Huang said Nvidia Corp CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳), whose products have become the hottest commodity in the technology world, on Wednesday said that the scramble for a limited amount of supply has frustrated some customers and raised tensions. “The demand on it is so great, and everyone wants to be first and everyone wants to be most,” he told the audience at a Goldman Sachs Group Inc technology conference in San Francisco. “We probably have more emotional customers today. Deservedly so. It’s tense. We’re trying to do the best we can.” Huang’s company is experiencing strong demand for its latest generation of chips, called
China has claimed a breakthrough in developing homegrown chipmaking equipment, an important step in overcoming US sanctions designed to thwart Beijing’s semiconductor goals. State-linked organizations are advised to use a new laser-based immersion lithography machine with a resolution of 65 nanometers or better, the Chinese Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) said in an announcement this month. Although the note does not specify the supplier, the spec marks a significant step up from the previous most advanced indigenous equipment — developed by Shanghai Micro Electronics Equipment Group Co (SMEE, 上海微電子) — which stood at about 90 nanometers. MIIT’s claimed advances last
GLOBAL ECONOMY: Policymakers have a choice of a small 25 basis-point cut or a bold cut of 50 basis points, which would help the labor market, but might reignite inflation The US Federal Reserve is gearing up to announce its first interest rate cut in more than four years on Wednesday, with policymakers expected to debate how big a move to make less than two months before the US presidential election. Senior officials at the US central bank including Fed Chairman Jerome Powell have in recent weeks indicated that a rate cut is coming this month, as inflation eases toward the bank’s long-term target of two percent, and the labor market continues to cool. The Fed, which has a dual mandate from the US Congress to act independently to ensure
RSS