John Lewis Partnership announces return to profit

Employee-owned retail group, John Lewis Partnership, has announced a return to profit for the 2023/24 financial year (ended 27th January 2024) in its unaudited annual results.

The group, which includes John Lewis Cheadle, as well as the Waitrose supermarket chain, has revealed a £120 million improvement on the previous year’s £78 million loss.

Sales across John Lewis and Waitrose reached £12.4 billion, up by £176 million (1%) from a year earlier, while total revenue was up 2% to £10.8 billion. John Lewis attracted a record 13.4 million customers in store and online, underlining the reach of the brand, with over 200 Partners now dedicated to fashion personal styling (appointments up 27%), nursery (appointments up 25%) and home (appointments up 5%).

Profit growth was supported by a further £111 million of productivity improvements in the year. This brings recurring productivity savings since the start of the Partnership plan in January 2021 to £420 million, on track against the target of £900 million by 2027/28.

Despite the return to profit for the group, the John Lewis Partnership has announced it will not award Partnership bonuses, instead preferring to invest in basic pay for staff, which will see a £116 million overall increase in 2024.

The improved profits for the retailer will also enable it to step up its efforts in transforming the business, with investment levels announced to increase from £312 million to £542 million in 2024/25. 

Sharon White, Chairman of the John Lewis Partnership, said:

“We have made significant progress in the last year to return the business to profitability and delivered results that allow us to increase investment in our retail businesses; we expect profits to grow further this year.

“This shows our plan is working, while we know there’s much more to do. Our improved performance has been supported by our customers’ love for both brands, with more people choosing to shop with us than ever before, and our Partners’ commitment to delivering excellent customer service. 

“This year we will unashamedly focus on investing back into our retail businesses for our customers, including opening new Waitrose shops and continuing to modernise our brand offering in John Lewis, while prioritising pay for our Partners.” 

Nish Kankiwala, CEO of the John Lewis Partnership, said:

“I’m grateful for the hard work and dedication of our Partners in delivering our return to profit while growing our customer numbers, accelerating the pace of transformation and driving significant improvements in productivity.

“It’s great to see an increasing number of customers embrace our Partner-led service and our unique credentials for quality and value, while we deliver exciting new innovations in both Waitrose and John Lewis. I’m very confident in the next phase of our refreshed Plan, which will focus on delighting our retail customers, offering excellent service delivered by our Partners.”