Shares in Ocado have plummeted by more than 50 per cent so far this year and it has been ejected from the FTSE 100 index. However, they rose by 17¾p, or 5.4 per cent, to close on 346p after Tim Steiner, 54, the chief executive, hailed the group's expansion plan with Aeon as a way of deepening their "strong partnership".