John Lewis Partnership’s sales surged by 11.1 per cent year-on-year in the final week of 2018, thanks to strong performance from Waitrose.
For the week ending December 29, the parent company of the upmarket grocer and John Lewis saw weekly sales come in at £279.67 million, a marked improvement on the £251.63 million recorded the same week last year, and more than the £248.23 million the year before that.
The results also helped offset a somewhat lacklustre festive season for the retail giant, especially after sales dropped 4.8 per cent year-on-year for the week ending December 22 – the crucial final week of trading before Christmas Day.
However, for the 48 weeks of the partnership’s fiscal year so far, total sales dipped 0.5 per cent year-on-year.
Waitrose said this was better than the 11.7 per cent sales growth for the week ending December 22, and that both were were in line with expectations.
It also highlighted that sales figures at that time of the year were heavily distorted by the fall of Christmas and new year, and that a more accurate picture of its full figures for the six weeks ending December 29 will be revealed in its Christmas trading update next week.
Over at stablemate John Lewis, total sales for the week ending December 29 were up 4.5 per cent on last year, which it credited to strong sales on Christmas Eve and “a confident start” to clearance sales both online and in stores.
Fashion sales were up 10.7 per cent on last year, home sales were down 2.3 per cent year-on-year, while electrical and home technology sales were up 3.1 per cent as customers enjoyed the start of clearance.
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