Ocado share price plunges further after Olympics comment

Online grocery service Ocado's share price has plunged further this afternoon (June 27th), after it stated yesterday that the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games might affect sales.

The retailer closed 19.8 per cent lower on the London Stock Exchange last night and is continuing to fall, with investor pessimism fuelled by its flat half-year profits, the BBC reports.

Ocado garners half its sales within the M25 and stated the impact of the Olympics makes it hard to forecast suitable third-quarter figures.

It also suffered some disruption as the Queen's diamond jubilee was celebrated earlier in June.

Pre-tax profits for the 24 weeks to May 13th were £0.2 million, which is the same as one year ago, while revenues increased by 11.4 per cent to £308 million.

Chief executive Tim Steiner commented: "There is uncertainty as to the effect of the forthcoming Olympic games."

At 15:30 BST, Ocado was down 1.1 per cent on the London Stock Exchange to 85.0p per share.