Ocado insists there’s nothing to fear from Morrisons’ deal with Amazon

Ocado has waved away fears that it could lose out in the online grocery battle following Amazon’s deal to sell Morrisons’ food online.

Duncan Tatton-Brown, finance chief of Ocado, said he welcomed the competition and did not feel that his company’s own deal with Morrisons was in jeopardy.

He said: “It is about coming to an agreement with Morrisons with both parties agreeing to it. You can assume Morrisons are happy with anything they sign and we’re happy with anything we sign.

“I’m sure [Amazon] will bring some new changes and challenges, but we welcome any further competition that grows the market,” he said.

The online grocer revealed that sales had risen 15.3% in the 12 weeks to February 21, to £312.4 million.

Average orders per week were also up, to 214,000 from 183,000, including a record-breaking week with 250,000 orders, but average order sizes fell 2.9% to £111.41.

Shares rose 3.1% to 269p.