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John Lewis employees could reportedly miss out on their staff bonus for the fourth time in the group’s history, amid news it could miss its full-year profit targets of £131m following weak festive sales.According to internal documents seen by The Telegraph, John Lewis said “lower consumer confidence and weaker than expected market confidence” led to missed sales target in the month to 21 December.
The document added that both John Lewis and Waitrose had missed their sales targets, despite the group reporting that revenues rose by 2% to £5.2bn in its half-year results.
Nonetheless, the company is expected to reveal that profits will rise to £120m in its full-year results, up from just £56m last year, retail analyst Nick Bubb told The Guardian.
Bubb said this figure still misses the group’s internal target to top £130m, or the £150m the group had previously said it must hit before bonus payments could be reinstated.
A warning to staff issued last week has reportedly “shaken confidence” among some workers, according to The Telegraph, with one insider telling the paper they were no longer expecting a bonus this year.
In 2020, John Lewis axed its staff bonus for the first time since 1953, after reporting a half-year loss of £635m amid the pandemic. At the time, the group said it would expect to begin paying a bonus again once profits exceeded £150m.
While a staff bonus was reinstated in 2022, the group axed the payment for a second time in 2023 after full-year losses plummeted to £234m. Despite returning to profit last year, the group confirmed it would not pay out staff bonuses for the third time in four years.
John Lewis will announce its decision on bonuses this month, alongside its full-year results.
A John Lewis spokesperson told The Telegraph: “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.”
Last week, John Lewis announced plans to increase staff pay for shop workers by 7.4%, marking a £114m investment into pay for 2025.
According to the group, 77% of this pay investment was voluntary and beyond the requirements of the national minimum wage hike that is coming into play next month.
John Lewis has been contacted for further comment.
