 The company said its trading environment has improved |
The owner of John Lewis and Peter Jones department stores, as well as the Waitrose supermarket chain, has seen first-half profits surge 80%. John Lewis Partnership said increased demand, higher real estate profits and lower borrowing costs drove growth.
Pre-tax profit for the six months ending 31 July was �76m ($135.8m). Total group sales rose 6% to �2.5bn.
The company said it was confident about the rest of the year, but was wary about increased competition.
"We haven't seen anything up to now," said Ian Alexander, deputy chairman and finance director.
"But the growing interest of supermarkets in non-food is becoming an issue for us as it is for other retailers."
Revamping the company's Sloane Square store in London at a cost of �100m helped attract customers.
Sales have increased by 16% since it reopened in June and total John Lewis sales increased 4.6% to �1.1bn in the first half of 2004.
Waitrose had a half of "outstanding performance", while the branches purchased from Morrison's did well, the company said.
Total sales grew by 6.4% to �1.4bn.
The group has 26 department stores across the UK and 160 Waitrose supermarkets.
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