Online supermarket company Ocado saw its pre-tax loss balloon to nearly £501m last year, nearly three times as high as in 2021.

The business has had a tough ride over the past couple of years.

The company's joint venture with Marks & Spencer failed to make the most of the opportunity in online retail during the pandemic. 

Now shoppers are returning to stores and watching their spending with the UK's cost-of-living crisis sending them to discount supermarkets like Aldi and Lidl.

The loss came despite overall revenue remaining broadly flat at £2.5bn, up just 0.6pc.

Chief executive Tim Steiner said he has "more confidence... than ever before" in the company's business model, despite facing "macro-economic and geopolitical headwinds" which have tested every company over the past year.

Ocado has increased investment in its solutions business, where the company builds automated warehouses for retailers using its robotic technology. 

Smaller shopping baskets and falling sales in its joint venture with Marks & Spencer meant losses deepened for Ocado.

The robotics and online groceries software developer saw earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation fall to a loss of £74.1m last year.

Its online grocery arm expects mid-digit sales growth this year.

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What happened overnight 

Asian shares climbed on Tuesday, tracking small gains on Wall Street, while the US dollar paused after a sharp rally as month-end flows lift sentiment and investors adjust to expectations of more interest rate hikes.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was 0.3pc higher, but was set to end the month down about 6pc. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 index gained 0.5pc.

China shares added 0.4pc and Hong Kong's Hang Seng index was 1pc higher, but was on track to end its three month winning streak as the China reopening rally loses steam.

Tokyo stocks ended marginally higher, trimming earlier gains as investors awaited better opportunities for buying.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 index rose 0.1pc to 27,445.56, while the broader Topix index added 0.1pc to 1,993.28.

Wall Street begun the week strongly as bargain hunting investors found value in beaten-down shares after the main benchmarks suffered their worst weekly selloff this year.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended trading up 0.2pc to 32,889.09. The S&P 500 closed 0.3pc higher at 3,982.24, while the the Nasdaq Composite climbed 0.6pc to 11,466.98.

The US equity indexes were boosted by easing Treasury yields. The benchmark 10-year Treasury yield dropped 2.3 basis points to 3.926pc.