John Lewis pays first annual staff bonus in four years as profits rise

Profits at the John Lewis Partnership increased to £134m in the year to 31 January. Photograph: Linda Nylind/The Guardian

The owner of John Lewis and Waitrose has paid an annual bonus to workers for the first time in four years after underlying profits rose by 6%.

The retail group’s 69,000 employees – which it calls partners – will share £35m, the equivalent of 2% of salary, after it recorded an increase in sales and profits. The payout amounts to about one extra week of pay.