
John Lewis Partnership has fallen short of its profit targets in the all-important golden quarter as both its brands “missed their sales targets”.
The Waitrose owner cited “lower consumer confidence and weaker than expected market confidence” for the softer sales in the month to 21 December, as well as the fact that key trading days fell outside this period.
“Both John Lewis and Waitrose missed their sales targets,” the partnership told staff in an internal document seen by The Telegraph.
However, it claimed the business had outperformed rivals and staff should be “proud of our performance”.
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The results will likely come as a setback for John Lewis and its target of reaching £131m in profit for the full year.
The retail group revealed last year that it was back in the black for the first time in three years after posting a pre-tax profit of £56m, up from a £234m loss the year before.
The partnership was banking on a positive golden quarter following the return of its ‘Never Knowingly Undersold’ price promise in September and improved food offer in Waitrose.
A John Lewis spokesman said: “As we said in September, we remain on track to deliver full-year pre-exceptional profits significantly above the £42m we reported in 2023-2024 and we will update on our performance at our results in March.”
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