Food delivery firm Ocado said Waitrose was 'coming around' to its new partnership deal but that it had not let lawyers at the supermarket see its contract with Morrisons.
'Waitrose have more than enough information from us to understand that our relationship with Morrisons does not get even close to breaking any single clause in our agreement,' Ocado chief executive Tim Steiner told the Financial Times.
Steiner said he had already held talks on the matter with Waitrose, the main supplier of the groceries it delivers to households and which has reacted angrily to a new 25-year deal with Morrisons. Ocado said the two contracts will run entirely separately and will not affect each other or overlap.
Despite the deal with Morrisons two months ago, which sent Ocado's share price soaring, the online delivery firm yesterday posted a higher than expected pre-tax loss in the first six months of its financial year. The firm made a £3.8 million loss in the period to May 19 compared to a £200,000 profit in the same period a year earlier.
Profit on an ebitda basis, which excludes interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation, increased from £14.9 million to £19.2 million as sales rose 15.2 per cent to £382.7 million. Ocado said £2.8 million of the loss was from exceptional costs associated with the Morrisons deal and opening its second Midlands-based warehouse which it will sublet to Morrisons.
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