John Lewis bonus woe

JOhN Lewis’s 83,000 staff are expected to see their annual bonus slashed when it reveals a drop in full-year profits on Thursday.

The partnership, which includes supermarket chain Waitrose as well as the department stores, warned in January it may have to scrap its profit- sharing scheme for the first time since 1953.

In September, John Lewis said its profits during the first half of the year had plunged a staggering 99pc to £1.2m. It blamed a ‘challenging time’ in the retail market and warned that it would make almost no profit in 2018.

Independent retail analyst Nick Bubb estimates the partnership could be set to reveal a 40pc plunge in pretax profits to £172m.