The John Lewis Partnership (JLP) has announced its first annual bonus since 2022 following further progress in its post pandemic turnaround .

The employee-owned retailer, which encompasses not only the department store chain but also Waitrose supermarkets, revealed that its staff, known as partners, would receive an award worth 2% of salary for its last financial year to the end of January.

The company said this was on the back of a 6% rise in trading profits to £134m, built on partnership sales increasing to £13.4bn - up 5%.

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But it did report an overall loss before tax of £21m.

The sum reflected, JLP said, exceptional charges of £120m which mostly related to non-cash write downs in the value of legacy technology.

The company has cut under-performing department stores and thousands of jobs under efforts to restore profitability in recent years.

It chose not to reward partners for 2024/25 despite a steep rise in earnings but revealed a pay rise worth almost 7% just last month as purse strings were relaxed following years of investment in its customer offering and new technology.

John Lewis described the economic backdrop as remaining "challenging". It had suffered no impact, so far, to product ranges or deliveries due to the conflict in the Middle East.

Like other major UK employers, it has grappled the impact of higher government-imposed costs including from the lift to employer national insurance contributions.

Jason Tarry, JLP's chair, said: "Our multi-year plan to invest in customers and our brands for the long term is working; we have grown customer numbers and achieved record satisfaction.

"Despite a subdued market, a challenging lead into the crucial peak period and increased taxes, we took the decision to continue investing in the business, and have delivered cash and profit growth.

"There is much still to do, but our growing cash generation and strong balance sheet enable us to invest more in our brands and our Partners to improve the experience for our customers.

"I'm really grateful for the commitment and passion our Partners bring and, alongside our continued investment in Partner pay, we're pleased to be in a position to award a 2% Partnership Bonus. We remain on track to make further progress this year."