Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free
Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.
John Lewis’s half-year losses widened to £34mn, with the UK retailer blaming an upcoming tax on packaging and higher national insurance contributions that came into effect earlier this year.
The employee-owned company, which runs 36 department stores, as well as the Waitrose supermarket chain, posted a loss before tax and exceptional items of £34mn for the six months to July 26, compared with a loss of £5mn during the same period last year.
New chair Jason Tarry, who is spearheading a revival after a challenging period for the group, said the retailer was “well positioned to deliver full-year profit growth” in a statement on Thursday.
The group said that increased employee costs as well as £22mn it has to pay for a new packaging levy and more investment have weighed on profitability. The packaging tax will kick in from October but the company said it opted to take the hit earlier in the year. Without it, losses would be broadly flat.
