John Lewis Partnership has said pre-tax losses almost halved over the first six months of the year as plans to revive the business started to show effect.
Losses reduced from £59 million to £30 million over the six months to July, which the Waitrose and John Lewis owner said left it on course for “significantly higher profit” over the year.
This was on the back of a 2% increase in sales to £5.9 billion across the partnership, as operating margins widened by 1.2%.
Sales were dragged up by Waitrose though, which saw growth of 5%, as the figure fell across John Lewis department stores by 3%.
“Challenging” market conditions remained, the company added, with squeezed consumer spending hitting the likes of fashion and homeware sales.
The company said loyalty programmes, as well as investment in technology to improve service, had helped to attract more customers over the period though.
John Lewis has cut jobs in recent months on the back of challenges and brought back its price match scheme for branded products earlier this month in a bid to win back shoppers.
“We continue to invest heavily in quality, service and value, and customers are responding well,” chief executive Nish Kankiwala commented.
Some 21.1 million customers shopped at the partnership over the first half, up 0.5 million, while cash generated from operations ticked up by £97 million to £147 million.
“While we have much more to do, we’re well set up for a positive peak trading period and on target to significantly improve our performance for the full year.”