Financial Research: Ocado Group Plc's Performance Over Ten Years

This report provides a comprehensive analysis and evaluation of the financial performance of Ocado Group Plc, a prominent UK-based online supermarket, over a ten-year period. The research delves into the company's operational activities and financial standing, aiming to understand the factors influencing its financial characteristics and competitive edge within the retail industry. The study examines both financial and non-financial factors, comparing Ocado's performance with other retail chains. The methodology includes an overview of the company, a review of relevant literature, and an explanation of the research philosophy, approach, strategy, and design. The report uses ratio analysis (profitability, liquidity, and efficiency ratios) to assess the financial health of Ocado Group Plc. The project also discusses the ethical considerations and limitations of the research and concludes with a summary of the findings.

ANALYSIS AND EVALUATION OF THE FINANCIAL PERFORMANCE OF OCADO GROUP PLC
PA304 FINANCIAL RESEARCH METHOD
SUBMITTED BY: TSHILONGO BANGAWA, 38335
GREENWICH SCHOOL OF MANAGEMENT

DECLARATION
I hereby disclose that the research paper entitled “ANALYSIS AND EVALUATION OF
THE FINANCIAL PERFORMANCE OF OCADO PLC OVER THE PAST TEN YEARS”
submitted by me to the university in partial and fulfilment of requirement for the degree of
Accounting and Finance. I hereby declare that the work provided is a work of my own and
does not have any resemblance with any other research paper.
Date: 14 December 2017
Signature: Bangawa
I

ABSTRACT
This project paper involves discovering the financial performance of Ocado Group Plc, a
renowned supermarket chain that operates mainly in United Kingdom. The objective of the
paper has been to identify hoe the company has been functioning in the UK market and what
has been their financial performance for the past ten years. This has been done by
investigating the various events and functions that the company has been operating. On the
examination of such events it becomes clear and lucid that Ocado Plc has tried to operate
their company with the international and the domestic guidelines set forth by the government
and therefore, their financial performance has been in an ethical manner. This research
therefore highlights the factors that have an effect on the financial characteristic of Ocado Plc
and the strategies and policies that have been followed by the company in order to maintain
their competitive edge and in that manner maintain their level of profit. The paper has looked
to identify whether the company has been able to maintain profit or loss during the various
accounting years.
II

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
I would like to thank you my module leader Dr SeunOluwayi of the faculty of
Accounting and Finance at Greenwich School of Management. He has consistently
allowed this paper to be my own work, and guided me in the right the path whenever I
required assistance.
I would also like to acknowledge my kids Allegria, Elize and Dylan also my husband
Joao Pedro who have assisted me and has been by my side and keeping to strong in times
of array so that the paper could be completed within the stipulated time period.
Thanking you.
III

Table of Contents
Chapter 1. INTRODUCTION...................................................................................................................1
1.1 Background.................................................................................................................................1
1.2 Aims and objectives....................................................................................................................1
1.3 Rationale.....................................................................................................................................2
1.4Scope............................................................................................................................................2
1.5Project Outline.............................................................................................................................2
Chapter 2.LITERATURE REVIEW............................................................................................................4
2.1 Introduction................................................................................................................................4
2.2 Overview of Ocado Group Plc.....................................................................................................4
2.3 Firm Performance.......................................................................................................................5
2.4 Non-financial performance.........................................................................................................6
2.5 Financial performance................................................................................................................6
2.6 Ratio Analysis..............................................................................................................................7
2.6.1 Profitability ratios................................................................................................................7
2.6.2 Liquidity ratios.....................................................................................................................7
2.6.3 Efficiency ratios....................................................................................................................7
2.7 Summary.....................................................................................................................................7
Chapter 3.METHODOLOGY...................................................................................................................8
3.1 Introduction................................................................................................................................8
3.2 Research Philosophy...................................................................................................................8
3.2.1 Research Approach..............................................................................................................9
3.2.2 Research Strategy..............................................................................................................10
3.2.3 Research Design.................................................................................................................10
3.3Variables Definition and Measurement....................................................................................10
3.3.1Measured variable.............................................................................................................10
3.4 Sample Selection and data collection procedures....................................................................12
The method of sampling explains the procedure in which the method of data collection in relation
to the topic of the research is selected from the concerned data set. There are two kinds of data that
are available for the purpose of completing a research. They are the primary data and secondary
data. The primary data comprises of the data that has been gathered for the first time and these data
IV

have not been used for any previous studies. The primary data is mostly collected from the
respondents who have been selected in order to conclude a research (Anand and Grover, 2015). On
the secondary data are the data that has been used previously in order to complete the data.
Secondary data has been gathered from various articles and journals with the help of which
information can be completed..........................................................................................................13
3.5Analytical Procedure..................................................................................................................14
3.6Ethical Issues..............................................................................................................................14
3.7Summary....................................................................................................................................14
4. Conclusion.......................................................................................................................................15
4.1 Limitation of the research.............................................................................................................15
5. Reference........................................................................................................................................16
Amaro, S. and Duarte, P. (2015). An integrative model of consumers' intentions to purchase travel
online. Tourism Management, 46, pp.64-79....................................................................................17
Anand, N. and Grover, N. (2015). Measuring retail supply chain performance. Benchmarking: An
International Journal, 22(1), pp.135-166........................................................................................17
V

LIST OF FIGURES
Figures No Description Page
3.1 the honeycomb of Research Methodology 8
3.2 the different types of research philosophy 9
VI

LIST OF TABLE
Table No Description Page
3.3.1 Definitions and Measurement of Variable selected 12
VII

Chapter 1. INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background
In the modern era, there are serval companies that are functioning in the market with different
kinds of aims and objectives. With the advent of time and development of science and
technology there has been development of online stores and this has enhanced the lifestyle of
individuals. This paper concentrates on understanding the financial performance of an
organization and in that understands the aims and objectives of the company that has been
taken into consideration. The retail industry in United Kingdom is conquering the demands
that are in aspect to the regulatory and technological transformations during the time of
emphasising the transparency and bringing in innovation in the market as well as for the
customers (Pappas, 2016). The nature of retail industry in United Kingdom has the capability
to deliver products online over a distance and it comprises of logistics, distributors and
warehouses. This paper therefore has selected OcadoGroup Plc as the organization and their
financial performance for the past ten years would be assessed and analysed.
Ocado group Plc is a supermarket that operates in the UK. The firm like their rivals does not
have chain of stores and undertakes home deliveries from their warehouses. This organization
has been voted to be the best online supermarket in Unite Kingdom. The company is listed in
the London Stock Exchange and their headquarters in Hatfield, Hertfordshire in United
Kingdom. This firm primarily provides kitchen, pet and dining and beauty products under the
name of Ocado Group Plc, Sizzle, Fetch and Fable names. The organization even engages in
the monetization and development of intellectual technology and property that is utilised for
the online logistics, retailing, distribution of grocery and consumer goods. Furthermore, it is
associated in the insurance business as well. The firm was established in the year 2000. The
key strategic objective of the firm has been to align with the interests of their stakeholders,
investors and the customers in order to deliver long term value of the shareholders (Chang &
Tseng, 2013).
1.2 Aims and objectives
The aim of this research is to analyse and evaluateOcado Group Plc’s financial performance
over the last ten years by analysing few ratios to understand its overall performance and
financial standing and thereby assess the various activities that has an influence on the
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financial performance of a firm. The aims and goal of the research have been given as
follows:
 Understanding the financial and the non-financial factors that have an impact on the
performance of Ocado Group Plc.
 Analyse the operational activities of Ocado Group Plc with the help of which the
financial performance for the past ten years can be compared
 Undertaking a comparison of the financial performance of Ocado Plc with the other
retail chain business
1.3 Rationale
There are several companies in the retail sector that are operating in UK. There has been an
observation that most of the researchers have been taken place on the most renowned and
branded companies. However, this paper looks to assess the financial performance of a firm,
it is essential to select a firm on which very limited researches have been done so that a
comparison with the market leaders can even be undertaken.
Ocado Group Plc has been operating in the market for a long time and has been changing
their operational policies from time to time to the evolution and technology. The company
has even diversified themselves in the online retail services for the past few years and
therefore undertaking a comparison of their financial performance for the past ten years
would be fundamental to understand how changes have made in their profit level as well
(Ramanathan, Bentley and Pang, 2014).
1.4Scope
The scope of the study involves the development of an effective research that could be
influential for understanding the financial performance of Ocado Group Plc for the past ten
years. The scope of the research looks to understand the various changes that have taken
place during the course of ten years and how the operational activities have helped in the
development of the company. For this purpose, an analysis of financial performance of
Ocado Group Plc has been done from the past ten years published financial statement.
1.5Project Outline
This projectconsists of the course that would be followed in order to complete the research in
an effective manner and also consists of understanding the aims and goals of the research
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paper and the scope and limitations associated with this paper. The review of literature would
explain the various issues that have been answered by other researcher in the previous time.
The review of literature aids the researcher in following the process and understanding the
variables that are associated with the financial performance of an organization. The research
methodology explains the process in which the data are gathered and the variables that have
been used for the assessment of the financial performance of the firm. The sample selection
and the data gathering process and the assessment process of the financial data gathered from
the annual report is even vital for the completing of the paper precisely.
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Chapter 2.LITERATURE REVIEW
2.1 Introduction
This section of the paper mainly explains the researches done by previous researchers in
similar topic to online retail industry. This section will undertake a comprehensive
explanation on the practical and theoretical views of the earlier studies undertaken on online
shopping in the retail sector. This is inclusive of the attractiveness on the prices, saving of
time, risks that are perceived, excitement and enjoyment, increased interactivity and
tangibility. These factors will evaluate the purchasing intention of the customers that is seen
in online shopping.
Vlachos(2014)explained the purchasing intention as the encouragement of the purchase of the
products. It is anticipated that the shoppers are more likely to relate the price attractiveness
and time saving with their purpose to shop and on the other hand, in offline shopping the
customers are more likely to relate with tangibility, enjoyment, increase interactivity with
their purpose to shop. Therefore, the online retailers need to be aware of the issues faced by
the customers and the risks to raise their intention to shop online. The designers require
recording the needs of the consumers as the usability being the initial point to gain
confidence and assistance of the consumers. The company has been striving towards growth
and has their key strategies with respect to their various products and service offered by them.
2.2 Overview of Ocado Group Plc
Ocado Group Plc is an UK based online retailer and the principal operations of the company
has been retailing of the grocery, monetization and development of Intellectual Property and
the various technologies exploited for the intention of online retailing, distribution of grocery,
consumer goods and logistics that have been derived from the various aspect of UK. Some
various aspects have been explained as follows:
Grocery: in Ocado Group, the company has been concentrating on enhance every aspect of
the consumer business with the help of quality of their services and interface of the user, the
freshness of the product, the width and the availability of their level and competitiveness of
their product prices (Amora and Duarte, 2015).
General Merchandise: The centralised operating framework of the firm has assisted in
expanding their offer into the general merchandise categories (SafaeiGhadikolaei,
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KhaliliEsbouei and Antucheviciene, 2014). The general merchandise that are sold on
Ocado.com and have dedicated s website that concentrates on unique range of products like
for instance the pet stores, Fetch, the dining and kitchen store Sizzle and the new beauty
offering Fabled which is partnership with Marie Claire.
Platform Business The sustainable investment and innovation in the integrated software and
solutions of physical model that enhances a righteous growth cycle in the platform and retail
business. The future base for the consumers will gain an advantage from the years of
development and learning in a lively retail atmosphere in order to create a stable
establishment or development to their online activities (Chen, Wang and Jiang, 2016).
2.3 Firm Performance
The performance of Ocado Plc is understood with the help of the annual report which acts as
window towards observing the performance of the firm. It gives a synopsis of the
performance of the firm for an entire year. The annual report is examined by the
shareholders, creditors, bankers and the debtors (Shen, 2014). The decisions that are financial
and non-financial in nature are undertaken with help of assessing the annual report as it is
regarded as most precise source of data in order to understand the financial health as well as
the opportunities and threat associated with it (Shi et al., 2017).
A precise understanding of the financial statements is significant for the investment research
and assessment, With the help of the financial disclosures, the firm discloses and provides
effective data that can have an impact on the uses of the financial records in order to make
accurate decisions. The financial performance of the firm can be understood by assessing the
statement of income, statement of the financial scenario and the cash flow statement for the
company (Piotrowicz and Cuthbertson, 2014). On the other hand, the non-financial
performance refers to the Various social and productive activities like corporate governance
that have been undertaken by the company in order to have them and captures the market in
UK.
The market in UK has faced key degree of changes during the past few years as there have
been an increase in the customer base for online shopping in UK and Ocado Group Plc has
been a widely accepted company by the consumers. The number of members in their website
has gone over 500,000. With the incorporation of the non-food products like the kitchen
ware, it has offered valued choices to the customers because of the rise in the range of
5

products. This reveals that the company has been able to satisfy the requirements of the
customers. The firm has been able to retain their old customers and has even able to bring in
new customers. With the help of these strategies the company has been able to transform
themselves from loss making business to a profitable firm and this aspect has been
understood with the assessment of their financial performance (Berg, 2014).
2.4 Non-financial performance
The UK Corporate Governance Code was updated by the Council of Financial Reporting in
2014. This code indicated to the reporting that is undertaken within the timeframe 1st October
2014 and does not apply to the firms that have their reporting ended on 30th November 2014.
In order to ascertain the transparency along with the declarations the board has implemented
certain provision. Ocado has therefore combined all the principles and the provisions in
relation to the code of 2012. The aspects that have not been combined, are explicitly
explained in the corporate governance statement and also in the Director’s Remuneration
Report. The firm has tried to stay in line with the 2012 code and the firm looks to define how
the practices are well tuned with the principles by looking at the provisions and give out a
contribution to the corporate governance(Zentes, Morschett and Schramm-Klein, 2017).
The corporate governance report of the company is effectively constructed and framed as it
concentrates on the major aspects like the functioning and structure of the board, the board’s
soundness and connection with the company shareholders, furthermore, the report of the
remuneration committee is even stated in the Director’s Remuneration Report. The risk
associated with the firm and the internal control structure is generated as to how risks are
managed. These section have been defined in the corporate governance statement that focuses
in the fact that how effectively is the lucidness if the firm is maintained (Catlin, Scanlan and
Willmott, 2015).
2.5 Financial performance
There has been a rise in the total asset base with the help of the property acquisition,
equipment and plant and even the intangible assets and undertaking investments in joint
ventures. The liabilities that are non-current in nature have risen due to the increase in the
retained earnings and issues of shares with the help of which the closing equity has increased
(Zentes, Morschett and Schramm-Klein, 2017). The financial performance and financial
health of the company can be well understood with the help various ratios. The financial
6

performance of the company would be assessed by looking at the profitability, liquidity and
the efficiency ratio of the company with the help of the collected data.
2.6 Ratio Analysis
A financial ratio demonstrates the connection between two sets of items on the income
statement and balance sheet. Different sources of data are used to calculate these ratios, but
the most obvious are the published financial statement (Posthumus, et al., 2000).
2.6.1 Profitability ratios
Profitability ratios show how a firm is utilizing its assets (Atrill, 2009). Profit margins reflect
what the firm can hold in abundance to operation costs whereas, return ratios show what
revenue firm produces for the capital provider. On based of this research the two ratios used
to figure profitability are the return on capital employed ratio and return on asset andeach
these will be examined thus.
2.6.2 Liquidity ratios
Liquidity ratio assesses the capacity of an organization in order to create cash so that the
immediate liabilities can be satisfied with flexibility and ease(Herman & Associates, 2011).
The two liquidity ratios incorporate the current ratio and the quick ratio.
2.6.3 Efficiency ratios
The efficiency ratios are even known as the Activity ratios or the Activity ratios or the
Turnover ratio and it analysis the level of effectiveness with the help of which the company
has been able to employ their assets (Khan & Jain, 2010).
2.7 Summary
The literature review looks to assess the financial and the non-financial performance of
Ocado Plc and the results indicate that the company even though faced losses on their initial
period of operations in the market has been able to turn themselves into profit making firm.
The corporate governance structure has been framed with the codes that have been laid in UK
and therefore assessment of the financial and non-financial performance indicates that the
company has an effective policy that leads to effective performance of the firm for the past
ten years. The company has enhanced their performance as they moved forward with time.
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Chapter 3.METHODOLOGY
3.1 Introduction
This section of the paper would try to assess the various areas and the sources that have been
used in order to gather financial data and information regarding Ocado Plc. The research
philosophy would explain the philosophy that has been chosen in order to gather the data and
the reason why such data has been chosen in order to complete the research. The research
approach and the research design would even be discussed in order to have an idea about the
process that would be followed. The measurement and variables would even be explained
along with the sample selection and the process of data collection(Vlachos, 2014). That
figure below shows the six elements of the honeycomb.
Figure 1: Figure showing the honeycomb of Research Methodology
Source: Wilson (2014)
3.2 Research Philosophy
The research philosophy involves “examining the nature of knowledge itself, how it comes
into being and is transmitted through language” (Patton, 2009). As explained by Silverman
(2016), the research philosophy has various traits of features, which are namely known as
ontology and epistemology. In research, ontology alludes to the researcher’s convictions
something like those way alternately truth(North, 2017). Typically, there are two main
ontological choices: realism and idealism. Realism accepts common and social marvel have a
presence that is free of the exercises of human observes (North, 2017). On the other hand,
8

idealism accepts that the outer world is just appearances and has no free presence from our
idea.
Epistemology will be characterized likewise those science about learning investigations from
philosophical purpose about perspective(Horrigan, 2007). Positivism philosophy is one the
basis of the continuation of reality by exploiting scientifically proved mechanism.
Conversely, interpretivism philosophy is on the basis of gaining knowledge about the
experiences and identification of individuals. On the other hand, Smith (2015) debated that
positivism philosophy assists the paper to assess the information that is collected by
exploiting the qualitative and quantitative processes. The realism philosophy is implied to the
matters of the research paper. However, pragmatism philosophy is a combination of the
philosophies of interpretivism and positivism for attaining increased preciseness in the
outcome of the paper.
In this paper positivism philosophy has been applied in order to gain an idea about the
financial performance of Ocado Plc and providing a positive result that would be useful for
the completion of the paper in a precise manner.
Figure2: Figure showing the different types of research philosophy
3.2.1 Research Approach
This is one of the crucial mechanisms that is required for the generation of the generation of
the paper in order to gain the research objectives. The research approach encourages the
researcher to examine the benefits of undertaking the research and thereby discovering the
data that would be useful for the attainment of precise outcomes (Brinkmann, 2014).The
approach of the research consists of deductive and inductive and in this paper inductive
approach has been taken into consideration as the researcher knows that this research would
mainly rely in the secondary data that would be collected from the annual report of Ocado
Group Plc. Quantitative data analysis would be undertaken as the financial data would be
critically evaluated in order to gain the result that is desired for this paper.
9
PositivismRealismPragmatism

3.2.2 Research Strategy
The selection of the research strategy is reliant upon the absence and the presence of the
measurement variables (Kogut and Fleck, 2017). It is reliant on the relation between the
research and the theory that is in relation to the epistemological and ontological attitude of
the research. This paper is a quantitative research as this paper deals with the gathering of the
data and assessment of the same. The benefits of quantitative research are the simplicity of
the analysis and generalisation from the sample.
The paper under consideration concentrates on dissecting the financial data of Ocado Plc in
order to assess the financial performance of the company for the past ten years. Hence, in the
current scenario, the researcher has made an effort to assess the financial performance of
Ocado Plc by taking help of the annual report of the company. As a result, the researcher has
implied the positivism philosophy by connecting the theories and frameworks that have been
explained in the section of the literature review with the current circumstances (Wang, 2014).
As the present paper concentrates on assessing the financial performance of Ocado Plc in
detail. Positivism is the most precise philosophy for answering the financial data of the
company. The researcher has not implied the other philosophies, as they are not reliant on
models and framework that have been proved scientifically.
In the research methodology, research onion has a significant role to play in precisely making
use of the most effective equipment for the research. Furthermore, the research, by taking
assistance of the research onion, gains suitable outcomes for the paper.
3.2.3 Research Design
The design of the research encourages the researcher to provide an explanation to the
compelling outcomes that have been put forth by the paper with respect to the targets that
have been pre-determined (Flick, 2015). By assessing the case study that is in relation to the
assessing the financial performance of Ocado Group plc, it has been observed that
longitudinal process is the appropriate option as it aids in the development of the strategies
which acts as the general orientation in order to undertake the research.
3.3Variables Definition and Measurement
3.3.1Measured variable
Measured variable is the variable that can be subjected to a process of quantitative and
measurement might be named measured variables. In completing this research, the
researchers more often than not endeavour to apply the procedure of measurement for
10

changing over the theoretical variables of their examination into the measured variable by
evaluating them diverse numerical value (Mangal and Mangal, 2013).
Profitability
Return on Assets (ROA): This ratio explains the profitability of the firm with respect to their
total assets. It has been explained that the net profit after tax and dividends after the total
assets. ROA= Net Income
Average Total Assets x 100
Return On Capital Employed (ROCE): is defined as the income before income and tax that
assesses the profitability of the firm in accordance to the capital employed. An increased
return discloses more precise utilisation of the capital (Macht and Weatherston, 2014). An
effective ROCE would be more than the cost of capital and thereby would mean that the firm
is not utilising their capital in an effective manner and not creating value for the shareholders.
ROCE= Net Profit After Taxes
Gross Capital Employed x 100
Liquidity
Quick Ratio: This ratio measures the company’s ability to pay its current liabilities when they
come due with only quick assets.
Quick ratio = Liquid Assets
Current Liabilities
Current Ratio: It is one of the most fundamental liquidity ratio. It quantifies the capacity of a
business to reimburse current liabilities with current assets (Herman & Associates, 2011).
Current ratio = Current Assets
Current Liabilities
Efficiency
Inventory Days: This metric demonstrates how much stock (in days) is available. It shows
how rapidly an organization can react to advertise and/or item changes.
Inventory Days = Average Inventory
Cost of Goods Sold x 365
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Account Receivable Days: This number mirrors the normal time span between credit sales
and payment receipt. It is essential to keeping up positive liquidity.
Account Receivable Days = Trade Receivables
Credit Sales x 365
Account Payable Days: This ratio demonstrates the normal number of days that slip by
between the purchase of material and labour and payment for them. It is anunpleasant
measure of how convenient an organization is in meeting payment commitment (Brownlee,
2012).
Account Payable Days = Average Accounts Payable
Cost of Sales x 365
Variables Descriptions Proxy
ROA Assessment of total assets of the
company (Return on Assets).
ROA = Net Income
Average Total Assets x 100
ROCE Profitability of long term capital
investment (Return on Capital
Employed).
ROCE = Net Profit After Taxes
GrossCap employed x 100
QR Measure the ability of a company to
meet its debt payments on short notice
(Quick Ratio).
QR = Liquid Assets
Cureent Liabilities
CR Compares current assets to current
liabilities (Current Ratio).
CR = Current Assets
Current Liabilities
IDAYS Normal number of days of the
inventory holding by the company
(Inventory days)
IDAYS = Average Inventory
Cost of Goods Sold x 365
APDAYS Estimation of Account Payable since
the predetermined due date (Account
Payable Days).
APDAYS =
Trade Payable
Cost of Goods Sold x 365
ARDAYS Estimation of Account receivable
since the predetermined due date
(Account Receivable Days).
ARDAYS =
Trade Receivables
Credit Sales x 365
Table 1: Definitions and Measurement of Variable selected
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3.4 Sample Selection and data collection procedures
According to Thompson (2013), “sampling consists of selection some part of a population to
observe so that one may estimate something about the whole population”. The two methods
of sampling are called probability sampling and non-probability sampling. The probability is
as sampling method in which every unit in a population has a specifiable difference in being
chosen and their techniques are simple random, systematic, stratified and cluster. The
nonprobability is a sampling method in which every unit in population does not have a
specifiable probability of being chosen, their techniques are convenience, quota, snowball
and judgemental.
The method of sampling explains the procedure in which the method of data collection in
relation to the topic of the research is selected from the concerned data set. There are two
kinds of data that are available for the purpose of completing a research. They are the primary
data and secondary data. The primary data comprises of the data that has been gathered for
the first time and these data have not been used for any previous studies. The primary data is
mostly collected from the respondents who have been selected in order to conclude a research
(Anand and Grover, 2015). On the secondary data are the data that has been used previously
in order to complete the data. Secondary data has been gathered from various articles and
journals with the help of which information can be completed.
In this paper secondary data has been collected from the annual report with the help of
statistical method. The limitations of the secondary data are that it may not provide the
answers that are required in the paper as the data available may not be accurate and precise.
Therefore, in this method the sampling has been done by simply collecting the annual report
of Ocado Group Plc for the last ten years as the topic clearly has the intention of
understanding the financial performance of Ocado Plc. The data that is gathered is filtered in
Excel sheets where various tools are used in order to generate the precise results desired by
the researcher. The financial parameters are outlines previously in order to make the research
transparent and lucid.
This paper has utilised the quantitative data as the financial figures are collected from the
annual report in order to undertake extensive assessment of the same. The secondary data that
is collected, it would be segregated and the data would be useful for the purpose of
constructing the financial ratios would be used in order to make the research precise and not
much lengthy (Naranjo-Valencia, Jimenez-Jimenez and Sanz-Valle, 2016).
13

The sampling technique undertaken in this paper has been cluster sampling in which all the
data related to Ocado Plc and the other companies for the past ten years have been collected
and thereafter assessment is undertaken in order to gain the relevant results. The sample size
of the paper has been data for the companies for the past ten years starting from the year 2007
to the year 2016.
3.5Analytical Procedure
The analytical refers to the construction of the financial ratios of the financial data of Ocado
Group Plc that has been collected from the annual reports. This paper has collected data that
ranges from the year 2007 to the year 2016 and ratio of each year has been done in order to
have an idea about the performance of the company has been doing for the past ten years. The
analytical process explains the tools that would be used for the purpose assessment of the
data. The data is therefore collected and placed in the Excel sheet to compute the ratios and
undertake a comparison of the financial performance for the past ten years for the company
(Shin and Eksioglu, 2014). Quantitative data has been used in this paper and hence statistical
method has been used. The statistical method explains the financial figures of the ratios and
explains how the company has been performing for the past ten years.
3.6Ethical Issues
The researcher in order to make the research paper authentic for fair has tried to gather all the
data in a very ethical manner and has been in line with the ethical and financial codes and
regulations that have constructed by international bodies. The researchers are restricted the
utilisation of any techniques that can be looked upon as unethical and therefore has tried to
gather the information after precise investigation of the resource from where the data is
available (Panneerselvam, 2014). There are possibilities that the company may disclose faulty
financial data in order to satisfy their stakeholders and hence the researcher has even cross
checked the data with the statements that have been submitted to government in order to
discover that the date gathered is precise. The maintenance of the ethics is fundamental as
this leads to the construction of an authentic paper that can be looked down upon as an
example and can be used by other researchers in the coming years with the idea of gathering
certain knowledge that can complete their paper effectively.
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3.7Summary
This segment of the paper therefore highlights the course and the method that has been used
for the purpose of gathering the data and the type of data used that can be useful for the
completion of the data. The paper has made use of the positivism philosophy along with the
inductive approach so that effective data can be collected with respect to this paper.
Explanatory research design has been useful for the collection data and answering of the
techniques that have been useful for the completion of the paper. The data that has been
collected is gone through the extensive assessment with the help of excel software so that the
financial ratios can be constructed.
4. Conclusion
This paper has looked to explain the financial performance of Ocado Group Plc for the past
ten years and tried to gain knowledge about the current position of the organization. The
introduction of the paper explains the background of the company and the various variables
and the factors that have an impact on the financial performance of the company. The rational
along the aims and objectives has been constructed which lead to the development of the
process that would be undertaken for the completion of the paper. The review of literature
explains the variables and parameters that are associated with the company, that has been
functioning in the economy of United Kingdom. The methodology and methods of the
research explained the process and the course that has been used by the researcher in order to
gather the data and undertake analysis of data.
4.1 Limitation of the research
Every research is constructed their limitations as well. In this paper, it has been observed that
the limitation has limited the researcher to undertake extensive research on the desired topic
and to look for more detailed data that would be useful for understanding the financial
performance of the company. The other limitation has been the data that has collected from
the annual report of the firm had to be used for comparative analysis of accounting tools. In
certain instances, there are possibilities that the results may not be appropriate.
15

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