Ocado has reported a 15.7% increase in gross sales for the 24 weeks to 17 May this year to £511.9m.

The retailer says that new customer growth rose by more than 30% year-on-year, underpinned by an increasing proportion from a broader set of customer demographics.

Statutory pre-tax profits were down to £7.2m compared to £7.5m for the same period last year.

The company also won the Best Online Supermarket award at The Grocer Gold Awards 2015.

Chief executive officer Tim Steiner, said: 'The channel shift towards online grocery shopping continued during the period, with the broader grocery market remaining characterised by intense price competition and deflationary pressures.

'Against this backdrop, our relentless focus on customer satisfaction continues to drive customer numbers and like-for-like sales ahead of the online grocery market. The resilience of our business model and increasing operational leverage also mean that we have grown operating profit despite these industry headwinds.”