The John Lewis Partnership has released its annual report, covering the 53 weeks to 31st January 2015. John Lewis saw strong sales and good profit growth, with customer numbers up 4%.
John Lewis' gross sales were up 9.2% to £4.43b (7.5% on a 52-week basis), beating the British Retail Consortium average by 4.9%. This was combined with growth in operating profit, up 10.8% to £250.5m (10.4% on a 52-week basis).
Every channel and category grew during the year, Home up 7.2% with furniture the highlight at 12.8%, floorcoverings up 6.1%, and the John Lewis House range continuing to grow, at 24.2%.
On a 52-week basis, shop sales were up 2.2%, with like-for-like shop sales growth at 0.6%, while johnlewis.com saw an increase of 21.6% to £1.4b. John Lewis now operates across 43 stores, including the three new outlets opened during the financial year.
"The pace of change looks set to continue in 2015, with the strongest retailers combining bricks and clicks to create the customer service levels and convenience that customers want," says John Lewis MD, Andy Street. "In 2015, we will open our regional flagship shop in Birmingham, setting a new benchmark in bricks-and-mortar retailing. Over the year we will also work to identify and establish key indicators that will help us drive and measure our performance against material issues faced through our sourcing and operational footprint."
The report states that investments made over many years in systems, logistics and IT infrastructure combined to enable John Lewis to make more deliveries via Click & Collect than to customers’ homes for the first time.
"Our focus remains on positioning our brand to outperform and our investment in supply chain and systems, which has been growing for some years, will exceed that in new shops and refurbishment for the first time this year," comments Sir Charlie Mayfield, chairman of the John Lewis Partnership.
