John Lewis Partnership gross sales were up by 1.4 per cent for the seven weeks to 5 January 2019.
Waitrose & Partners sales were up 0.3 per cent on a like-for-like basis whilst John Lewis & Partners sales were up 1.0 per cent on a like-for-like basis.
Waitrose & Partners online sales increased by 12.8 per cent over the Christmas period. Black Friday also made a large contribution to the biggest sales week in John Lewis & Partners’ history.
“Two main factors are affecting the retail sector – oversupply of physical space and relatively weak consumer demand. Despite this, we had a positive Christmas trading period,” said John Lewis Partnership chairman Sir Charlie Mayfield.
“We continue to expect full year total Partnership profits to be substantially lower this year, driven by slower sales growth over the year and margin pressure in John Lewis & Partners along with higher costs, mainly as a result of our continued investment in our IT capability,” he added.
