Festive Sales Declined At John Lewis Partnership; Paula Nickolds To Leave

The John Lewis Partnership has reported on festive trading, covering the seven weeks from 17th November 2019 to 4th January 2020.

TRADING SUMMARY

• Gross sales at the John Lewis Partnership were down 1.8% versus last year1 to £2,167m.
• Waitrose & Partners gross sales (excluding fuel) were £1,033m, down 1.3% versus last year (due to shop closures) but up 0.4% on a like-for-like basis.
• John Lewis & Partners gross sales were £1,134m, down 2.3% versus last year and down 2.0% on a like-for-like basis.
• Waitrose & Partners online sales increased by 16.7% and in the seven days to Christmas online grocery orders were up 23.4%. John Lewis & Partners online sales increased by 1.4%. 

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 2.0% down on last year. Operationally - across availability, service, delivery and online - we saw a strong performance in both brands.

In John Lewis & Partners, Beauty sales were up 4.7%, comfortably ahead of the market, with overall Fashion sales up 0.1%. Home sales were down 3.4% and Electricals & Home Technology sales were down 4.0%. We saw significant variation in levels of demand with Black Friday sales up 10.0% on the equivalent period last year, followed by more subdued demand in the subsequent weeks.

In Waitrose & Partners we saw encouraging progress against our milestones to accelerate growth online next year, with a 23.4% increase in orders and an increase in basket sizes in the seven days to Christmas.

At the full year, we expect profits in Waitrose & Partners to be broadly in line with last year. In John Lewis & Partners we will reverse the losses incurred in the first half of the year, but profits will be substantially down on last year. We therefore expect that Partnership profit before exceptionals will be significantly lower than last year. Our balance sheet and liquidity position are strong and we expect to improve our Debt Ratio2.

The Partnership Board will meet in February to decide whether it is prudent to pay a Partnership Bonus. The decision will be influenced by our level of profitability, planned investment and maintaining the strength of our balance sheet.”

1  Last year was seven weeks 18 November 2018 to 5 January 2019.
2  Subject to interest rate movements that may affect our year-end pension deficit.

FUTURE PARTNERSHIP

Last October we announced bold changes to the way the Partnership will be led in future. Known as the Future Partnership plan, it integrates the teams behind our two brands under one new Executive team structure. Good progress has been made in implementing that structure, with more than 90% of leadership appointments now confirmed. 

We are announcing today that Paula Nickolds, currently the Managing Director of John Lewis & Partners, will step down from the Board and will be leaving the Partnership in February 2020.

Paula has been with the Partnership for 25 years and has been an outstanding Partner and leader throughout her time. She has played a central role in the development of John Lewis & Partners over the last 10 years in a variety of senior positions. After some reflection on the responsibilities of her proposed new role, we have decided together that the implementation of the Future Partnership structure in February is the right time for her to move on and she will leave the Partnership with our gratitude and best wishes for the future.

Future Partnership will be in place from the start of February, when Sharon White will become the Partnership’s sixth Chairman.

Source : John Lewis Partnership

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