Ocado Group has released its interim management statement for the 12 weeks to 23 February 2014.
The company saw continued growth with gross sales up by 22.6% to £227.5m, compared with £185.5m for the same period in 2013. Gross retail sales increased by 18.0% to £218.8m.

There was also an 18.4% upsurge in the number of average orders per week compared with a year ago, to £155,152 for the 12-week period. Average order size was £117.53, slightly down (0.4%) on last year.

Chief executive Tim Steiner said: 'We are pleased with the continued growth in our business. We remain committed to improving the quality of the offer to customers, which we believe will support further growth.'

He continued: 'Having launched on 10 January, we are pleased with the operational progress of Morrisons.com, with the service expanded to new geographic catchments in February.

'While we are encouraged by our current trading, the retail environment remains both challenging and competitive, and we expect to continue growing in line with, or slightly ahead of, the market.'