The John Lewis Christmas advert did little to improve John Lewis’s bottom line last year
John Lewis Partnership has slashed staff bonuses to levels not seen since 1954 and is poised to axe more jobs after a near-80% drop in profits.
Chairman Sir Charlie Mayfield said yesterday he expected workforce numbers to fall further following a 1,440 cut in head count last year.
Redundancy and restructuring costs in 2017 formed part of a £111.3million hit that contributed to a hefty fall in bottom-line pre-tax profits, which plunged 77% to £103.9million after one-off charges.
Underlying pre-tax profits at the partnership, which owns the eponymous department store and upmarket supermarket Waitrose, were down by 21.9% at £289.2million for the year to January 27.
Staff will be handed a bonus of 5% of annual salary, with 85,500 partners sharing a pot worth £74million – down from £89.4million last year. It marks the fifth straight year of bonus cuts, with the rate having fallen from as much as 17% in 2013.
Sir Charlie said it was also the lowest since 1954, when the annual bonus was set at 4%, and warned the company would not shy away from taking that figure down to zero if necessary, in order to secure the “long-term future of the partnership”.
