Ocado co-founder Jason Gissing offloads 3m shares worth £15m
OCADO’S outgoing commercial director and co-founder Jason Gissing sold shares worth £15m on the day that the online grocer announced full-year losses of £12.5m.
Gissing, who announced on Tuesday that he would be leaving the company, sold just over three million shares on the same day at 498.75p each, reducing his stake by 0.52 per cent to 2.56 per cent.
Shares in Ocado, which have risen nearly five-fold over the last 12 months, closed up 3.99 per cent last night to 547.5p.
Ocado announced that Gissing would be retiring from the board at the annual general meeting in May to spend more time with his four children and to focus on social and environmental causes.
The news came as the company reported the £12.5m pre-tax loss for the year to 1 December, larger than the £600,000 loss the previous year, despite striking its £216m deal with Morrisons.
The group said it expects to make a profit next year and attributed the loss to adding more capacity and opening its second distribution centre in Dordon.