John Lewis profits jump but no staff bonus again

Retailer John Lewis has said its staff will not receive a bonus for the third year in a row, despite reporting a jump in annual profits.

The employee-owned retail partnership, which also includes the Waitrose supermarket chain, said profits last year rose by 73% to £97m.

However, it has not restored the staff bonus, saying it would invest in its business and workers' pay instead.

The John Lewis Partnership employs about 69,000 people, and earlier this month it said shop workers would receive a 7.4% pay rise this year.

This is the fourth time in five years that John Lewis has not paid a bonus.

The string of freezes started in 2020 - the first time it had scrapped them since 1953 - after it was hit by Covid lockdown store closures.

The results are the first under the partnership's new chairman, Jason Tarry.

He told the PA News Agency he was "determined to pay a bonus as soon as we possibly can" but that "now just isn't the right time".

A company source added that there were no specific thresholds or criteria John Lewis had set for reinstating the bonus.

Waitrose sales grew 4.4% to £8bn, and it sold more of its own-brand products.

But John Lewis department store sales were the same as last year after shrinking from 2023.

John Lewis said that while it expected the economic environment to be "challenging for our customers and our business" in the year ahead, it was still confident it could push up profits.

Charles Allen, a Bloomberg Intelligence analyst, said the lack of bonus "had been signalled".

"I also think we have to put in the light of another big pay raise that's coming through in line with the minimum wage jump.

"And then of course, although the partners don't see it, you've got a very large rise in employer National Insurance as well."

John Lewis was one of the signatories of a letter to the government last year, which said the rise in employer National Insurance contributions from April would make High Street job losses "inevitable".

John Lewis has been trying to win back customers with a recovery plan after a tough few years that saw it cut jobs and close several stores.

In March 2024, it reported its first annual profit after years of losses, but also said it would not pay a staff bonus.

In September last year, it brought back its "never knowingly undersold" price pledge, two years after abandoning it.