date:Sep 13, 2013
A sharp rise in sales at high-end food retailer Waitrose helped John Lewis to post better than expected first-half profits.
The employee-owned partnership, which has 39 John Lewis department stores and 294 Waitrose supermarkets, recorded sales of 4.3 billion in the six months to July 27, a 7.3% increase, after strong performances from the company's online divisions.
Waitrose recorded gross sales of 3.02 billion, an increase of 7.8%, with like-for-like sales excluding petrol up 6.9%.
According