John Lewis Partnership will announce whether it will be reinstating its staff bonus when it announces its financial results on Thursday, according to multiple reports. The partnership restored its staff bonus in March, after cutting the reward scheme saw extra pay handed out only once since 2020, and will hand out a two per cent bonus to all partners this year, equivalent to a week's pay. John Lewis Partnership posted a pre-tax loss of £21 million for the year to January 31, down from a £97 million profit a year earlier, according to major media reports.
The partnership made a £134m profit in the year to January 2025, up six per cent from the year before. John Lewis Partnership's pre-tax loss was due to exceptional charges, including write-downs related to legacy tech systems, according to major media reports. John Lewis Partnership took a £22m write-off on its failed build-to-rent venture, which it canned in February, saying economic circumstances are now very different from when it launched in 2020.
In supermarkets, we have seen 7% growth on the back of volume growth despite a wider drop in volumes across the market, so that is positive. In discretionary areas, it is definitely tougher. We remain cautious and that was before the breakout of war in the Gulf.
John Lewis Partnership's profits were affected by approximately £53 million of additional costs linked to tax changes introduced last April, according to major media reports. Higher national insurance contributions cost John Lewis Partnership around £40 million, while the new Extended Producer Responsibility packaging levy cost John Lewis Partnership £13 million. John Lewis Partnership first scrapped the bonus in 2020 due to Covid-19 lockdowns, which was the first suspension since 1953, according to multiple reports.
The partnership returned the bonus in 2022 but has not paid it out since then, meaning staff have not received it in four of the last five years. Conflicting signals sent by John Lewis Partnership's leadership mean staff will not be getting their hopes up about the bonus, according to multiple reports. Jason Tarry wants to further win staff over by reinstating the bonus with a two per cent payout, according to multiple reports.
Things will not get easier going forward.
Executives warned staff that next week's financial results will reflect a subdued retail market in an internal memo, according to multiple reports. John Lewis Partnership had previously said it would need to take £200m in profits before returning to the bonus, but analysts expect profits to be closer to £140m, according to multiple reports. 2m, up 21% from his predecessor's £990k base rate, according to multiple reports.
John Lewis Partnership cut 3,300 jobs in the year to January 2026, with total jobs falling from 69,000 to 65,700, according to multiple reports. John Lewis shed 1,500 jobs while Waitrose cut 1,800 workers from its payroll, according to multiple reports. John Lewis Partnership is pleased with the progress achieved lately through its substantial transformation programme, according to Jason Tarry via major media reports.
John Lewis Partnership is cautious in its outlook for the current financial year amid a challenging macroeconomic environment, as noted by multiple reports. John Lewis Partnership has experienced no disruption to its supply chains from the recent conflict in Iran, according to Jason Tarry via major media reports. John Lewis Partnership anticipates no immediate effect on energy expenses from the recent conflict in Iran due to hedging arrangements, as reported by Jason Tarry.
John Lewis Partnership employs approximately 65,000 partners, according to major media reports. The bonus payment amounts to roughly £35 million in total, according to major media reports. John Lewis Partnership's losses before tax and exceptional items increased to £88m in September from £30m the year before, according to multiple reports.