Despite tripling full-year profits, the John Lewis Partnership has decided not to pay a staff bonus for the third year in a row. The owner of John Lewis and Waitrose, which is in the middle of a turnaround plan, reported a profit of £126m, with sales up 3% to £12.8bn in the year to 25 January. It has closed 16 department stores and at least 20 Waitrose outlets and cut thousands of jobs at head office. The retailer said it is prioritising investment over the bonus, with plans to spend £600m on transforming the business. Jason Tarry, the chair of the John Lewis Partnership, said: "These are solid results, which show that our customers are responding well to our investments in quality products, value and service. We have made good progress with much more still to do." The retailer, which employed about 69,000 people last year, has now skipped the bonus to workers in four out of the last five years, after diving to a loss during the Covid pandemic when it was forced to close stores during lockdowns. Britain’s housing market had its slowest month in more than a year in February as a rush of buyers to complete before a tax break deadline ran out of steam. The monthly survey from the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors showed buyer demand was weakest since November 2023, with a further slowdown expected in the months ahead. The volume of newly agreed sales fell in February, with London-based professionals reporting a particularly noticeable dip in sales agreed during the month. Higher stamp duty costs for some buyers from 1 April are expected to dampen market activity. Stamp duty applies in England and Northern Ireland. The net balance of house prices, which measures the difference between surveyors reporting a rise and a fall, dropped to +11, down from January’s +21 and a two-year high of +25 in December, and the lowest since September. However, a net balance of 47% expect property values to increase in the next 12 months. The housing market had picked up in previous months, boosted by lower mortgage rates and expectations of Bank of England interest rate cuts. The agenda • 10am GMT: eurozone industrial production for January • 11am GMT:German parliament to debate borrowing bonanza • 12.30pm GMT: US Producer prices for February; initial jobless claims for week of 8 March We'll be tracking all the main events throughout the day …
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