Fashion rockets profit and bonuses at John Lewis

Fashion sales at John Lewis reached 1.1 billion pounds in 2012 thanks to a 9 percent rise in clothing sales that has helped drive a profuse year for the retailer. John Lewis and Waitrose staff will receive bonuses worth 17 percent of their

salary after the group posted a 15.8 percent surge in annual profits.

"This has been a good year for the partnership with growth in sales and profit above our expectations," Charlie Mayfield, chairman of John Lewis Partnership, said when reporting pre-tax, pre-bonus profits of 409.6 million pounds for the 12 months to January 26. Like-for-like sales up 13.7 percent at the British department store chain.

Gross sales increased 9.3 percent increase to 9.5 billion pounds while group operating profit reached 452.4 million pounds (+15 percent).

Sales in its department store chain rose 10.5 percent on a like-for-like basis thanks to strong demand on johnlewis.com.

Stripping out the online effect, like-for-like sales rose 2.6 percent across its shops. Comparable store sales rose 3.4 percent.

Fashion has proved to be key for John Lewis in 2012, as this department sales have increased from around 700 million pounds in 2005 to 1.1 billion pounds last year, reported 'The Guardian'.

John Lewis has also pointed out that its website has been the other pillar for growth, with johnlewis.com sales up 41 percent to 959 million pounds and accounting for a quarter of trade, unveiled the employees-owned group.

The department store saw its market share increased as well, accounting 2.1 percent of the UK clothing market in 2012, according to retail analysts Verdict. This is a 10 percent up on a year before, as stressed by Verdict.

The group said it benefited from an acceleration of sales growth in the final quarter, up 12 percent across the department stores. However it warned that sales growth would experience a slowdown this year as the market remains "subdued".

It is noteworthy that John Lewis is back on track on the trail of profits growth after it suffered a 4 percent fall the previous year, triggering the first bonus decline in three years, reported local media.

Due to this improvement in sales and profits, the department store’s 84,700 employees would receive the equivalent of nearly nine weeks' pay after increasing its total bonus chapter to 210.8 million pounds. The payout will total nearly 211 million pounds.

As the company clearly stated earlier this week, each member of staff, including Mayfield, receives the same percentage of salary as a bonus.