Ocado Group PLC has announced a pause in the planned go-live of Sobeys' CFC4 in Vancouver, Canada, originally scheduled for 2025. The go-live timeline for the Vancouver CFC will be regularly reviewed, with the ability to commission and scale quickly when required. Both Kroger and Sobeys, Ocado's partners in North America, have reported strong growth in digital sales. Ocado Retail, the fastest growing grocer in the UK, indicates a return to online being the fastest growing channel in grocery.
Ocado is supporting its partners to grow volumes and expand profitably, leveraging its 20 years of experience in operating and growing an online grocery retailer in the UK. As part of this, Ocado and Sobeys have decided to focus their joint resources on driving order and sales volumes across the current network, comprising 3 live CFCs in major Canadian markets and manual fulfillment solutions in nearly 100 stores. The planned go-live in Vancouver has been paused, and terms related to mutual exclusivity have been ended.
The Group's financial guidance for FY24 remains unchanged, with the target to be cash flow positive in the mid-term. Ocado Group expects the capital expenditure related to the MHE deployment for Sobeys CFC4 to be deferred, along with the commencement of capacity fees earned from the initial modules expected from the Vancouver site. Ocado Group is a UK-based technology company providing end-to-end online grocery fulfillment solutions to some of the world's largest grocery retailers and holds a 50% share of Ocado Retail Ltd in the UK in a Joint Venture with Marks & Spencer.