Britain's Ocado says overseas deals can come back

British on-line merchant Ocado (OCDO.L) is assured it'll sign multiple overseas technology deals despite missing out on its target of securing a primary one in 2015, the firm aforementioned on weekday.

Analysts see securing international deals because the key driver of Ocado's stock exchange valuation.

The firm aforementioned discussions with many potential overseas partners to adopt its technology were continued.

"We ar in talks with...a lot of outlets each in North America and in western Europe however conjointly globally across Asia, Australia, even in South America," Chief government Tim Steiner told reporters.

"Some of these deals can take longer to sign-up than others...but we tend to expect to try and do multiple deals in multiple territories across the medium term," he said, declining to be a lot of specific on temporal arrangement.

He was speaking once Ocado met forecasts with a thirteen.8 % rise in full-year core earnings.

Ocado shares, that have had a rollercoaster ride since they debuted at one hundred eighty pence in 2010, have fallen forty % over the last year.

They were down five % at 250.1 pence at one420 time, valuing the business at one.45 billion pounds ($2.1 billion).

"The investment case is somewhat binary within the sense that with none international deals Ocado appearance dear and probably strategically weak, however its valuation might suddenly look a lot of enticing and therefore the company strategically terribly good the instant a deal is signed," aforementioned Barclays analyst James Anstead.

Media reports have sporadically coupled the firm with a bid from Amazon (AMZN.O) to accelerate the U.S. firm's enlargement into the united kingdom grocery market.

"If we tend to were in conversations with Amazon a few attainable bid we might got to disclose that truth to the market, and that we haven't done therefore," aforementioned Steiner.

The firm, whose vary includes merchandise provided by upscale merchant Waitrose [JLP.UL] and conjointly contains a contract with Morrisons (MRW.L), Britain's No. four grocery store, aforementioned it created earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) of eighty one.5 million pounds ($117.2 million) within the year to Gregorian calendar month. 29.

That compared with analysts' average forecast of eighty one million pounds and seventy one.6 million pounds created within the 2013-14 year.

Ocado had antecedently rumored full-year cluster sales rose seventeen.3 % to one.2 billion pounds. Retail sales accumulated fourteen.7 percent, with growth speed to thirteen % in its fourth quarter.

The firm rumored full-year pretax profit of eleven.9 million pounds, solely the second time it's done therefore in its 16-year history.