In The First Half Of The Year, John Lewis'S Parent Company Profits Continued To Decline.

Largest chain in Britain

John Lewis's parent company John Lewis Partnership PLC continued to decline in the first half of the year.

John Lewis Partnership PLC is a retail group operating in the form of employee cooperatives, which includes two major businesses: John Lewis department store and Waitrose supermarket.

In the first half of July 30th, JohnLewis Department recorded a comparable sales growth of 3.1%, but its operating profit dropped by 31.2% to 32 million 400 thousand pounds. The better performing sectors were household appliances, home furnishing, outdoor life and fashion.

Departmental

And Cosmetology both achieved 4% sales growth, and men's clothing grew by 4.9%.

Waitrose supermarkets declined by 1% compared with sales, while operating profits also fell 28.9% to 96 million 300 thousand pounds.

John Lewis Partnership PLC chairman Charlie Mayfield complains that the fierce competition in the retail environment has made no difference in the growth of sales and market share, which also reflects the deep structural pformation of the retail market.

Speaking of layoffs, he said that although the group is committed to providing quality services and affordable prices, it is taking measures to prepare for the future of the business.

Overall, the group's medium-term sales rose by 3.1% to 5 billion 274 million 300 thousand a year, and revenue increased by 2.7% to 4 billion 671 million 400 thousand pounds; operating profits plummeted 58.3% to 113 million 700 thousand pounds, including the Waitrose supermarket's cancellation of 25 million pounds of property resulting from the plan to open 7 new stores in the next two years, excluding the adjusted pre tax profit of 81 million 900 thousand pounds, an increase of 14.7% over the same period last year.

The group says price competition, rising pay, IT costs and new distribution networks have led to a decline in profitability.

John Lewis Partnership PLC employs more than 90 thousand employees, and the group has spent more than 33 million pounds in order to make the salary of the grass roots employees above the minimum wage (7.2 pounds above 25 years old).

The group has cut 1500 jobs last year.

John Lewis Partnership PLC did not provide annual profit forecasts. In fiscal year 2015, the group's adjusted pre tax profit was 305 million 500 thousand pounds, down 9.3% compared with the same period last year. The annual bonus of all employees was also cut by 10%, not only for 3 consecutive years, but also the lowest level since 2003.

CharlieMayfield revealed that the pension gap jumped from 512 million to 1 billion 440 million because of the huge reduction in bond yields from Europe.