Ocado, the British technology and online grocery group, plans to cut about 1,000 jobs as it targets savings of £150m in technology and support costs, its boss said today.
"It's about 1,000 people, it's less than 5% of our global workforce," CEO Tim Steiner told Reuters after Ocado published full-year results.
He said about half of the job losses are from Ocado's research and development team. Two thirds of the job losses would be in the UK.
Earlier, Ocado said today it would hit the key milestone of becoming cash flow positive in the second half of 2026, helped by a focus on cutting costs.
London-listed Ocado, which provides automated technology for distribution centres and runs its own UK online grocery business through a joint venture with Marks & Spencer, also reported a 59% jump in underlying earnings for its 2024/25 year.
Ocado's shares have tumbled 27% over the last year after both of its North American partners - Kroger in the US and Sobeys in Canada - said they would close robotic customer fulfilment centres (CFSs), blaming weaker-than-expected demand.
The decisions raised fresh questions about the viability of Ocado's business model, particularly for partners who have customers away from dense urban locations.
Ocado says the expiry of exclusivity agreements in most of its overseas markets, including the US, frees it to pursue new partners. However, analysts are sceptical that Ocado can win new deals given its struggles with existing partners and because many retailers are focusing on fulfiling online orders from stores.
The group forecast it would turn cash flow positive during the second half of its 2025/26 year with full-year underlying cash outflow excluding closure fees of about £200m.
It said that objective will be helped by a £150m reduction in technology and support costs.
Ocado forecast it would be full year cash flow positive in 2026/27.
For its year to November 30 2025, Ocado made underlying earnings of £178m for its 2024/25 year, on revenue up 12.1% to £1.36 billion.
