Ocado, the online food retailer, this morning set an unusually wide price range for its flotation, reflecting disagreements among analysts over how to value a company that has yet to make a profit. The gulf between the bottom and top of the range is about twice that of other European IPOs this year.

The company, which sells Waitrose food online, gave itself an indicative valuation of £800m (€965.2m) to £1.1bn, and a prospectus is expected later today. The range has been set at 200 pence to 275 pence per share.