John Lewis profits drop by 99%

The John Lewis Partnership has announced a 99% drop in profits for the first half of the year. 

Sir Charlie Mayfield, the chairman of John Lewis Partnership, has said that the retail sector was facing ‘challenging times’.

The results, which include Waitrose, show that profits from the previous year, up until July 28^th dropped by 99% to 1.2 million.

In the first six months of the year, profits at the John Lewis department store business were hit hardest.  Sir Charlie said that the profits had been squeezed in "what has been the most promotional market we've seen in almost a decade".