Weaker pound could help Ocado win overseas licensing deals

* Remains in talks with multiple international retailers

* Shares (Berlin: DI6.BE - news) rise up to 15 percent

* Food inflation could benefit UK retailers (Adds context on food price inflation)

By James Davey

LONDON, June 28 (Reuters) - The slide in the value of sterling after Britain voted to leave the European Union last week could help online grocer Ocado to secure a long-awaited overseas licensing deal, the company said on Tuesday.

The weaker pound could also spell an end to food price deflation which has held back sales for British supermarket chains.

Analysts see winning international agreements with retailers in north America and western Europe as the key influence on Ocado's stock market valuation. However, the company missed its target of securing a deal by the end of 2015.

Chief Executive Tim Steiner told reporters sterling's plunge to a three-decade low versus the U.S (Other OTC: UBGXF - news) . dollar following the EU referendum last week could help Ocado to clinch an agreement.

"As an exporter of technology and infrastructure our product has potentially just got cheaper to our customers and if our product is cheaper for our customers we may find it easier to sell more of it," he told reporters.

Ocado shares rose by as much as 15 percent on Tuesday after the firm reported a 5.7 percent rise in first half core earnings and said it would grow ahead of the rest of the market.

INFLATIONARY PRESSURE?

Ocado said it remained in talks with multiple international retailers and that its confidence in signing multiple deals in the medium term was undiminished.

Steiner was relaxed about the potential impact of Brexit on Ocado's UK retail business.

"The economy might be a touch weaker than it would be otherwise but I'm not expecting the whole thing to suddenly collapse," he said.

He said sterling's weakness might mean some inflationary pressure in the food market.

"That wouldn't necessarily be such as bad thing for the food retail sector given the deflation that we've seen over the last few years."

Analysts expect food inflation will also benefit other British supermarkets if they are able to pass on the higher cost of goods to consumers, most notably market leader Tesco and Morrisons.

Sainsbury (Amsterdam: SJ6.AS - news) 's, which is increasing its exposure to the non-food sector through its planned purchase of Argos , is more exposed to the Brexit fallout as non-food items are more sensitive to consumer sentiment.

Tesco (Xetra: 852647 - news) 's shares were up more than 3 percent at 1055 GMT, Morrison's was up 2.7 percent and Sainsbury's up 2.2 percent.

Ocado shares have had a rollercoaster ride since they debuted at 180 pence in 2010 and have lost nearly half their value over the last year. They traded almost 10 percent higher at 229p by 1055 GMT.

Sentiment has been hit by the lack of an overseas deal, the ongoing re-negotiation of its distribution agreement with Morrisons and fears over competition after Amazon expanded its online grocery offer. ($1 = 0.7532 pounds) (Additional reporting by Emma Thomasson in Berlin; Editing by Keith Weir)