The partnership reported an underlying operating profit of £42mil in the year to Jan 27. — Bloomberg
LONDON: John Lewis Partnership Plc is back in profit but the staff that own the UK retailer will miss out on a bonus for the third time in four years.
The partnership, which runs John Lewis department stores and upmarket grocer Waitrose, reported an underlying operating profit of £42mil – its key performance measure – in the year to Jan 27. This compared with a loss of £78mil the prior year.
Waitrose sales, buoyed by food price inflation, helped offset a 4% drop at John Lewis, but it wasn’t enough of a boost to give its more than 70,000 workers at the employee-owned business a bonus.
Once as high as 24% of a worker’s salary, the annual profit-sharing bonuses have been generally in decline for the past decade at a business that is struggling to balance the competing demands of physical and online retail, fierce competition, inflation and changing consumer trends.
“We expect profits to grow further this year,” said Sharon White, the partnership’s outgoing chairman, adding that it will further increase investment in its retail business. – Bloomberg
