John Lewis hit by housing market worries

The John Lewis Partnership said today its department stores had borne the brunt of the housing market’s woes as first-half profits fell by more than a quarter.

The John Lewis Partnership said today its department stores had borne the brunt of the UK's housing market’s woes as first-half profits fell by more than a quarter.

The group’s John Lewis chain saw like-for-like sales fall 1% in the six months to July 26, with home goods down 5% in the struggling property market.

The partnership, which also owns the Waitrose supermarket chain, said overall pre-tax profits had slipped 27% to £108m (€136m).

Chairman Charlie Mayfield expects the rest of the year to be “challenging” and is cautious about the consumer outlook until the end of 2009.