// Ocado has survived being ejected from the FTSE 100 ranking
// Despite suffering a steep drop in value, the online supermarket remained in the ranking after a pickup in its share price
Ocado has managed to keep its position in the FTSE 100 index despite suffering a steep decline in its value.
The online supermarket shares have fallen 85% since its peak in September 2020, making it the worst-performing FTSE 100 firm this year.
However, it survived being ejected from the FTSE 100 after a pickup in its share price last week, thanks to help from M&S.
Index provider FTSE Russell shared the latest quarterly reshuffle on Wednesday, with the index listing the 100 most highly capitalised companies with shares traded in London.
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Head of money and markets at Hargreaves Lansdown Susannah Streeter told The Guardian that Ocado “escaped relegation at the last gasp as the FTSE reshuffle deadline loomed”.
Streeter explained the business has been “lifted up on the coattails of M&S” after it reported a rise in annual profits and sales last week.
“Although their joint venture has been struggling, M&S has staged a slick recovery and still spies further potential with their partnership,” she continued.
“It is planning to deepen its collaboration with an Ocado Retail reset under way. This will include leveraging the potential of its vast treasure trove of M&S customers.”
The Ocado Retail business, run as a joint venture with M&S, had a value of over £21bn in 2020 as customer went online during the pandemic.
However, inflationary pressures combined with the return to normal shopping habits led to Ocado’s losses reaching £501m last year. As a result, it topped the list of ‘most-shorted’ stocks in London, with over 6% of stock currently out on loan to hedge funds.
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