What: John Lewis has launched a turnaround plan in 2020 and has gone through financial woes since then. Profitability is not yet in sight.

Why it is important: Reviewing the structure of the “Partnership” (very specific and unique to John Lewis) has always proved to be difficult, and might have to be done again soon.

John Lewis, a prominent UK department store chain and owner of supermarket Waitrose, anticipates it will need an additional two years to finalize its turnaround strategy, pushing its completion from 2025/26 to 2027/28. This comes as the company reported another loss for the first half of the year, attributing the delay to high inflation and increased staff expenses. Despite the delay, the group has shown signs of recovery: it posted a 14% reduced loss compared to the same period last year and experienced a 2% increase in total group sales. The company remains unsure about providing its well-known staff bonus this year and is focusing its investments on customer service, new products, and overall pay. The company's net debt slightly increased, but it expects to enhance its debt ratio by year's end.

John Lewis has 2-years delay on the path to profitability