Ocado and Marks & Spencer are both heavily covered in this morning’s media ahead of the launch of their JV. The Financial Times (£) reports that the fire that wrecked Ocado’s Andover depot in February pushed the online grocery delivery and technology company to a £143m first-half loss reports but the shares rose 6% as investors factored in the group’s potential for future growth. Ocado said dealing with the fire had cost £110.3m, offset by £11.8m of insurance proceeds received so far. The Telegraph notes that Ocado said it expected more payouts to fund reconstruction of the Andover building and to cover lost business

A business commentary in The Times (£) is incredulous about all the hype around Ocado’s potential bearing in mind the “naughty arsonist robots” that “burnt a net £99m hole in Ocado’s non-existent profits”. Were they trying to barbecue the food before it went in the van? Or did they simply not like working in Andover,” asks the writer. The biggest mystery is that Ocado keeps persuading people that its grocery “solutions” are the best thing since sliced breads, he says, despite its own business continually proving how tough it is to make real money from online food delivery.

The Times (£) says the online grocer is now valued at more than £8.8bn despite its losses, attracting short sellers who are betting that the shares will fall. Bernstein analyst Bruno Monteyne said the company’s performance was in line with his expectations and questioned whether the “numbers even matter” (The Guardian). Ocado’s “tech gobbledygook has investors in a tizzy”, says The Independent.

The Daily Mail, meanwhile, calls Ocado the classic love-hate company. Call me old-fashioned, the writer, says, but she likes companies to make a profit. Ocado does not, yet. She concludes that it is not easy for small investors to work out how profitable, or when those profits might arrive – and therefore whether the soaring share price is justified. Ocado has defied its critics so far and that might continue.

Marks & Spencer has meanwhile defended its £750m tie-up with Ocado at its AGM in Wembley (The Times £). Archie Norman, chairman, said the deal would increase profits because the company currently paid “well over the odds” buying branded goods from multinational suppliers. Steve Rowe, chief executive, told shareholders about plans to double food sales to £12bn by making its full range available on Ocado. M&S also planned to move its floral delivery service to the Ocado platform and, at a later date, shoppers would be able to buy M&S underwear and tights with their groceries.

M&S admitted it was paying the price for not shutting stores 10 or 20 years ago. Steve Rowe, chief executive, told the AGM that the current plans to shut 110 stores were not “finite” (The Telegraph). The Daily Mail says Rowe told investors its portfolio of legacy stores was “holding it back”

It’s a great time to be an Asda “colleague” it would seem as Walmart handed a shared £62m to nearly 25,000 Asda employees on the back of the American giant’s soaring share price. It is the biggest payout in two decades (The Times £). Walmart’s share price has jumped by two-thirds since 2016, climbing from the equivalent of around £37 to £87 now (The Telegraph).

Patisserie Valerie’s rescuer Causeway Capital has shut another 14 cafés The Times (£). Up to 100 job losses are expected. Causeway Capital said the remaining 75 branches were the larger, best-performing units.

PepsiCo has announced second-quarter net revenues up 4.5% on an organic basis to $16.5bn and net income up from $1.82bn 59 $2.04bn. (Financial Times £). Investments the fizzy drinks and snacks company was making to offset pressures in the consumer goods industry were starting to pay off, it said. The Times (£) reports a new line of Pepsi colas made with real fruit juice helped it beat Wall Street’s expectations.

Nestlé is considering selling personalised products designed for each customer’s tastes (The Daily Mail). It has not decided which products could be personalised but the concept could be applied to a range of its brands. The move would end the unpopular annual family ritual of removing unpopular individual Quality Street chocolates from the box, the report says.

A Starbucks-style trial last year in Korea whereby it deployed cameras that recognised licence plates to identify pre-registered customers, personalise digital menus and speed up sales could be adopted by drive-throughs all over the US (Financial Times £).

Sambrook’s Brewery has agreed a 20-year lease with the developer of the Ram Quarter to relocate its Battersea brewery to the former Ram Brewery in Wandsworth, south London (The Times £).

Eddie Stobart Logistics has restated its previous annual accounts after a review by new chief financial officer Anoop Kang, who replaced Damien Harte. It said it was reducing last year’s adjusted earnings before interest and tax by about £2m and those for its current financial year, which ends in November, by £1.6m. It would also adjust its retained earnings for its 2017 financial year by about £11.5m, it said (The Times £). It downgraded its earnings expectations for the current year (The Daily Mail).

L’Oreal’s sales are soaring in China as families embrace make-up for the first time (The Daily Mail).

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