Ocado’s half-year losses have widened as it ramps up its cost efficiency drive in a bid to turnaround the business.

The online grocer’s pre-tax loss widened 37% to £289.5m in the six months to 28 May, up from the £211.3m loss the year before.

It said the losses relate in part to “exception costs” worth £77.2m, which include a revaluation from Marks and Spencer and restructuring costs from the closure of its Hatfield distribution centre earlier this year.

Ocado’s retail arm fell into the red after its EBITDA swung to a half-year loss of £2.5m, down from a profit of £31.3m in the same period a year before.

It said a return to profitability, on an EBITDA basis, in the second quarter helped to offset the losses occurred at the start of the year.

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Retail sales edged up 5% over the period to £1.2bn thanks to the price-cutting initiatives enticing shoppers back online.

Ocado Group chief executive Tim Steiner said: “Ocado Group has made good progress over the last six months.

“In the UK, Ocado Logistics had a steady, profitable first half and Ocado Retail is making good progress, with a return to profitability in Q2.

“Our operations in the UK remain an important demonstration of the potential for our international ambitions, as we seek to transform the economics of online grocery and expand into the wider automated storage and retrieval solutions market.

“At a Group level, I am pleased to see the operational and financial discipline delivered by all our teams as we focus on driving cost efficiencies and cash flow improvement.

As such, the grocer said its financial guidance given at its full year results in February remains unchanged.

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