Sales down at John Lewis & Partners over Christmas trading period
The John Lewis Partnership has said that gross sales fell at the John Lewis department store over the Christmas trading period.
In the seven weeks to 4 January, gross sales at John Lewis fell by 2.3% to £1.13 billion and edged down 2% on a like-for-like basis.
Meanwhile, gross sales at the Waitrose supermarket dropped by 1.3% to just over £1 billion due to store closures, but rose by 0.4% on a like-for-like basis.
Sir Charlie Mayfield, chairman of the John Lewis Partnership, said: “We saw a good sales performance in Waitrose & Partners, despite a weak grocery market, with like-for-like sales up 0.4%. In John Lewis & Partners like-for-like sales were 2% down on last year. Operationally – across availability, service, delivery and online – we saw a strong performance in both brands.”
At John Lewis, beauty sales climbed by 4.7% while fashion sales edged up 0.1%. However, home sales and electricals and home technology sales declined by 3.4% and 4% respectively.
Waitrose’s online sales increased by 16.7% and in the seven days to Christmas online grocery orders were up 23.4%.
The John Lewis Partnership said it expects full year profits at Waitrose to be broadly in line with the previous year and profits at the John Lewis department store to be lower.
The Partnership’s board will meet in February to decide whether to pay a partnership bonus.
The John Lewis Partnership has also announced that Paula Nickolds, currently the managing director of the John Lewis department store, will step down from the board and leave the Partnership in February.
