Profit leap ends John Lewis gloom

JOHN Lewis has revealed a 5.9 per cent jump in revenue for the week to last Saturday, ending a recent run of gloomy figures.

Around half of John Lewis branches improved year-on-year sales during the second week of the company's clearance period.

The results from the John Lewis Partnership also revealed that sales at supermarket chain Waitrose grew 1.2 per cent to £75.6 million last week. Selling operations director Nat Wakely described the figures as a "super result".

The weekly trading figures from John Lewis have attracted close attention in recent weeks given the insight they offer into UK consumer spending.

It recently reported a drop of 8.3 per cent on a year ago for the week to June 28, but this was followed by a fall of 1.3 per cent as the clearance sale got under way.