John Lewis will give no bonus to staff after devastating £234m loss for high street giant

John Lewis will give no bonus to staff after devastating £234m loss for high street giant

John Lewis executives have warned of looming job cuts after the company posted annual losses of £234 million.

The company, which is owned by employee “partners”, will also not award bonuses this year following sales struggles and a selection of exceptional costs. 

While the firm can survive on a strong balance sheet, a chairman has warned the results will have “an impact on our number of partners”.

John Lewis initially recorded losses of £78 million as the financial year ended in January, but exceptional costs – including a value write-down of Waitrose stores – more than trebled this total.

Company chairman Sharon White said costs had surged through the year, increasing by nearly £180 million on the previous total.

Sales at Waitrose plummeted by three percent, meaning that, while John Lewis still reported strong performance, they fell by two percent overall, settling on £12.25 billion. 

Speaking following the news, Ms White said the company would need to become “more efficient and productive”.

Ultimately, she added, this would impact the partners working at John Lewis, which she said was a “massive regret to me personally”.

John Lewis has not said how many jobs are at risk following the annual fiscal report, nor which locations would be hardest-hit. 

Ms White added that the poor performance means remaining partners would not receive an annual bonus this year. 

She said: “I am sorry that the loss means we won’t be able to share a bonus this year or do as much as we would like on pay.”

The chairman stressed that the company continues to boast a healthy balance sheet allowing it to stay afloat.

The firm has access to £1 billion in cash and a £420 million credit facility. 

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Published at Thu, 16 Mar 2023 09:45:00 +0000