Staff at John Lewis Partnership are to share a bonus payment of £151.3 million, after the retail group reported a 9.7 per cent rise in full year pre-tax profits to £306.6 million.

It means that “partners”, as staff at the retailer are designated, will receive payouts equivalent to 15 per cent of their annual salary, or nearly eight weeks’ pay.

Charlie Mayfield, chairman of the John Lewis Partnership, said that, in all, about 70,000 partners would receive payouts.

He said: “Partners have shown tremendous commitment during changing times. I am therefore delighted that our partners will share fairly in the financial rewards of a successful year.”

Star performer at the Partnership was Waitrose, the supermarket chain, which raised operating profit — before property gains — by 26.8 per cent to £268.2 million.

At John Lewis, the UK’s biggest department store operator, operating profits before property gains were up by a more modest 15 per cent to £165.9 million.

Mr Mayfield said that Waitrose had made “enormous progress” during the year, in which it opened 25 new shops, of which 13 were acquired from the Co-op — after the latter’s takeover of Somerfield — as well as one former Woolworths store.

He said that Waitrose had opened two new stores in 2010 and planned 20 others the year ahead, creating 2,500 jobs in the process.

Mr Mayfield said that the store openings, along with the launch of essential Waitrose, the chain’s value brand, which celebrated its first anniversary on Wednesday, had made the brand more accessible to more customers in more parts of the United Kingdom.

He added: “Each week up to 400,000 more people are now choosing to shop at Waitrose.”

Mr Mayfield said that, after a difficult beginning to 2009, the John Lewis stores had “emerged powerfully” from the recession.

He said the business had been boosted by new store openings, including the specialist “John Lewis at Home” concept at Poole, Dorset, and the new shop at Cardiff, the chain’s second-largest, which opened in September and took John Lewis into Wales for the first time.

He said that another “At Home” store was planned for Croydon, Surrey, and that the new shop at the Olympic site in Stratford, East London, was set to open next year.

He added: “We remain committed to our plans for full-line department stores in Northern Ireland and Dublin, and continue to explore possibilities in key city centres in England.”

Mr Mayfield said that, during the first five weeks of the new financial year, which began on 31 January, total sales were 13.5 per cent higher than the same period last year.

He said like-for-like sales, which include only stores trading in the same format for more than a year, were up by 2.8 per cent at Waitrose and by 14.9 per cent at John Lewis.

But he warned: “We anticipate more challenging trading conditions in 2010, particularly in the second half of the year.

“The likely withdrawal of monetary stimulus, higher taxes, the possibility of increased interest rates and the implications of public spending cuts make for an uncertain outlook which is likely to impact on consumer confidence.”

Source : The Times

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