LONDON, Sept 16 Reuters - The British retail company, John Lewis Partnership on Thursday reported a return to the first half after a COVID hit loss last year, but warned of significant uncertainty ahead.
The employee-owned group, which runs John Lewis department stores and upmarket supermarket chain Waitrose, said that with the rest of the UK retail industry it had to manage global supply chain challenges and labour shortages.
It was also experiencing inflationary pressures, which it expects to persist.
The group said it is taking a raft of measures to mitigate these risks and deliver Christmas for customers.
These include a campaign to recruit more full-time drivers, recruiting 7,000 temporary staff and booking extra freight to make sure Christmas products arrive on time.
The group made a first half profit before exceptional items of 69 million pounds $95 million versus a loss of 55 million pounds in the same period last year, helped by 66 million pounds of cost savings and government business rates relief of 58 million pounds.
Sharon White has faced our biggest test and will come through today stronger, said chairman.
In October last year, she set out a five-year recovery plan that involves investing 1 billion pounds to improve the company's online business and expand its stores, diversify beyond retail and seek more partnerships.
The plan, which is also seeking savings of 300 million pounds a year by 2022, targets profit of 400 million pounds by year five.