John Lewis narrows pre-tax losses to £30m
As a result of this John Lewis believes it is on track to deliver significantly higher profits for the full year
The John Lewis Partnership has revealed that its losses-before-tax closed to £30m, down from £59m, a decrease of 49%, for the 26 weeks ended 27 July 2024.
Alongside this, the retailer’s losses-before-tax and exceptional items reduced by 91% from £57m down to just £5m.
Overall, the company’s total revenue rose 2% up to £5.2bn while the Partnership sales also rose 2%.. up to £5.9bn.
The Partnership also stated that its transformation was on track with investment of £0.5bn this year, up 53% year-on-year.
Waitrose attracted more customers leading to a 5% uplift in sales at the supermarket.
Furthermore, Waitrose adjusted operating profit increased by £75m while gross margin improved by 1.2 percentage points.
JLP is investing in stores, including a commitment to open up to 100 new convenience shops over the next five years and the next phase of its store modernisation programme.
However, John Lewis saw its sales in the first half fall 3% down to “in a challenging market”.
Furthermore, John Lewis’ adjusted operating profit declined by £24m off the back of lower sales.
John Lewis has also reestablished its Never Knowingly Undersold commitment price matching 25 major UK retailers in store and now online with the help of AI technology.
It is also investing in its flagship Oxford Street store by creating one of the largest Beauty Halls in the country.
As a result of this John Lewis believes it is on track to deliver significantly higher profits for the full year.
Nish Kankiwala, CEO of the John Lewis Partnership, said: “I want to thank all our partners for their hard work during the half, and thank our customers for supporting our loved brands. These results confirm that our transformation plan is working and we expect profits to grow significantly for the full year, a marked improvement from where we were two years ago.
“We continue to invest heavily in quality, service and value, and customers are responding well – with more people shopping with us and customer satisfaction increasing. While we have much more to do, we’re well set up for a positive peak trading period and on target to significantly improve our performance for the full year.”
