Ocado share price falls after sales warning following warehouse fire

Ocado saw its share price fall more than 6% on Wednesday morning after news hit that one of its warehouses had caught fire, leading the company to issue a sales warning.

The fire, which started on Tuesday morning, was battled by around 200 firefighters overnight, with the online grocer expecting a fall in sales growth until it can move operations to other warehouses.

Ocado warehouse fires hits sales

The fire hit Ocado’s Andover warehouse which processes over 30,000 orders a week, with the company taking to Twitter to ask concerned customers to send their postcode to update them on the status of their order.

Orders being dealt with by its Andover warehouse will now be redirected to other units, but the fire is a major blow for the company with it responsible for around 10% of its total capacity.

‘Once we have had time to assess the damage and prepare a plan to return the CFC (customer fulfilment centre) to operation we will update further as appropriate,’ an Ocado spokesman said.

Ocado records 21% fall in full-year earnings

The warehouse fire will apply added pressure on the company after it reported a 21% decline in full-year earnings on Tuesday.

The online supermarket said that investment in its partnership deals will likely hurt its profits in the short term, with rumours flying around about a possible tie-up deal with Marks & Spencer.

‘Creating future value now will involve us continuing to scale the business, enhancing our platform, enabling our UK retail business to take advantage of all its opportunities for growth, and innovating for the future,’ Ocado CEO Tim Steiner said.

‘We look forward to fulfilling these opportunities with excitement and determination.’