Sep 14, 2017

John Lewis profits fall by half

John Lewis Partnership profits have fallen by more than 50% after the retail group was hit by costs to reorganise the business. Profit before tax fell 53.3% to £26.6m for the half-year ending 29 July after a £56.4m charge mainly for restructuring and redundancy costs. At the John Lewis department store, operating profits rose by 10%. But at Waitrose operating profits fell 18% as its margin was eaten into by higher costs. "Look, nobody should be surprised that this is a tough market for retailers. There's any number of reasons for that," John Lewis Partnership chairman Sir Charlie Mayfield told the BBC. "The reason our profits are down is predominantly because of margin, and cost prices are rising. It's a very competitive market, retail prices are not rising as fast."

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