John Lewis Partnership announces promising half-year results with significant loss reduction.
- Pre-tax losses decreased from £59m to £30m, showing a promising trajectory.
- Overall sales for 26 weeks ending 27 July reached £5.9bn, a 2% increase year on year.
- Waitrose sales rose by 5%, contributing to an operating profit boost of £75m.
- New customer acquisition reached 500,000 as transformation efforts gain traction.
The John Lewis Partnership has revealed a promising set of half-year results, indicating their ongoing turnaround strategy is beginning to show results. A key highlight from the report is the reduction in pre-tax losses, which have been cut from £59 million to £30 million. When exceptional costs are excluded, losses have been further slashed from £57 million to a mere £5 million, signalling a significant improvement in financial management.
For the 26 weeks ending 27 July, sales across the partnership topped £5.9 billion, marking a 2% increase from the previous year. This growth has been largely driven by Waitrose, where sales rose by 5%. The adjusted operating profit for Waitrose saw a substantial rise of £75 million, underscoring the brand’s strong market performance in the grocery sector.
Conversely, John Lewis experienced a slight dip in sales, which fell 3% to £2 billion, with a corresponding £24 million decline in adjusted operating profit. Despite this, the partnership remains optimistic about the second half of the year, typically a more profitable period due to increased holiday spending.
CEO Nish Kankiwala has affirmed the transformation plan is on course, with expectations for significantly higher profits by year-end. Kankiwala commented, “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.”
The partnership has successfully attracted 500,000 new customers in the past six months, indicative of its growing appeal. An investment of £500 million has been channelled into enhancing quality, service, and technological advancements, all of which have positively impacted customer satisfaction and competitive positioning.
These developments set a positive outlook for the John Lewis Partnership’s future performance.
