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* Remains in talks with multiple international retailers
* Shares 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 ofsterling after Britain voted to leave the European Union lastweek could help online grocer Ocado to secure along-awaited overseas licensing deal, the company said onTuesday.
The weaker pound could also spell an end to food pricedeflation which has held back sales for British supermarketchains.
Analysts see winning international agreements with retailersin north America and western Europe as the key influence on Ocado's stock market valuation. However, the company missed itstarget 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. dollar following the EUreferendum last week could help Ocado to clinch an agreement.
"As an exporter of technology and infrastructure our producthas potentially just got cheaper to our customers and if ourproduct is cheaper for our customers we may find it easier tosell more of it," he told reporters.
Ocado shares rose by as much as 15 percent on Tuesday afterthe firm reported a 5.7 percent rise in first half core earningsand said it would grow ahead of the rest of the market.
INFLATIONARY PRESSURE?
Ocado said it remained in talks with multiple internationalretailers and that its confidence in signing multiple deals inthe medium term was undiminished.
Steiner was relaxed about the potential impact of Brexit onOcado's UK retail business.
"The economy might be a touch weaker than it would beotherwise but I'm not expecting the whole thing to suddenlycollapse," he said.
He said sterling's weakness might mean some inflationarypressure in the food market.
"That wouldn't necessarily be such as bad thing for the foodretail sector given the deflation that we've seen over the lastfew years."
Analysts expect food inflation will also benefit otherBritish supermarkets if they are able to pass on the higher costof goods to consumers, most notably market leader Tesco and Morrisons.
Sainsbury's, which is increasing its exposure tothe non-food sector through its planned purchase of Argos, is more exposed to the Brexit fallout as non-fooditems are more sensitive to consumer sentiment.
Tesco'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 theydebuted at 180 pence in 2010 and have lost nearly half theirvalue over the last year. They traded almost 10 percent higherat 229p by 1055 GMT.
Sentiment has been hit by the lack of an overseas deal, theongoing re-negotiation of its distribution agreement withMorrisons and fears over competition after Amazon expanded its online grocery offer. ($1 = 0.7532 pounds) (Additional reporting by Emma Thomasson in Berlin; Editing byKeith Weir)
