Waitrose-owner John Lewis may shut more stores on COVID-19 hit

Waitrose-owner John Lewis Partnership posted an annual pre-tax loss on Thursday after it was forced to shut stores and record costs during the pandemic and warned that it probably will not re-open all its shops by the end of the current lockdown.

The group permanently closed eight stores in July, impacting 1,300 jobs, as it grappled with the fallout from the pandemic.

“Hard as it is, there is no getting away from the fact that some areas can no longer profitably sustain a John Lewis store,” the company said, adding that it was in talks with landlords, with final decisions expected by March-end.

The employee-owned group said the outlook is uniquely uncertain as the country charts its exit from the latest lockdown, adding that “no one has a crystal ball to predict the strength and pace of the recovery – or the future course of the virus”.

It reported a pretax loss of 517 million pounds ($720.85 million) for the year ended Jan. 30, compared with a profit of 146 million pounds, hurt by exceptional costs of 648 million pounds from the write down in the value of John Lewis shops amid a shift to online retail.

It also included restructuring and redundancy costs from store closures and changes to head office.

However, it posted a profit, excluding items, of 131 million pounds, compared with 61 million pounds last year.

The company plans to invest 800 million pounds this year for its turnaround and expects liquidity, debt ratio and profit before exceptionals to worsen in 2021 and 2022 and then improve in later years.

It is also targeting a 300 million pound a year cost reduction by 2022 and 2023 and intends to accept business rates relief from April to June.