John Lewis slims down bonuses to 15pc as pension costs rise
John Lewis and Waitrose staff will get bonuses worth 15 per cent of their salaries today – from a bonus pool of £202.5m – after getting 17 per cent last year. 2013’s bonus is equivalent to around eight weeks’ pay.
The partnership spent more on servicing its pension fund last year, with the deficit increasing 22.1 per cent to £1bn.
85,500 employees own the John Lewis Partnership, which saw gross sales increase 6.6 per cent to £10.2bn in the year to the end of January.
Profit before tax fell 4.1 per cent to £329.1m, although up 9.6 per cent before exceptional items, at £376.4m. £47.3m was shelled out following a review of the its holiday pay policy, and were also dragged down by restructuring costs.
Both Waitrose and John Lewis increased their market shares – for the fifth year running.
Charlie Mayfield, chairman of the Partnership, said he’s “cautiously optimistic” that John Lewis will see improvements this year:
I am confident that however quickly the UK economy emerges from this prolonged period of slow growth, the Partnership is well positioned to continue to strengthen its competitive position and to grow market share in both Waitrose and John Lewis.