The John Lewis Partnership has swung back to an annual profit but will not pay a bonus to workers for the second year in a row, saying investing in pay and improving its business must take priority. The department store chain, which also owns Waitrose, made a £56m profit before tax in 2022-23, compared with a loss of £234m the year before. Excluding exceptional items, it moved to a £42m profit from a £78m loss. Despite a “challenging year for the sector” amid the cost of living crisis, the retailer credited better sales growth, margin and productivity improvements. Sharon White, chair of John Lewis, told the Radio 4 Today programme: "We’ve returned to profits, and that’s strength across both brands. If you look at the last year, actually customer numbers have grown." She defended the decision not to pay a staff bonus for the second year running. "The great thing about the partnership, and we are the biggest employee-owned business in the UK, is that we can take a long-term view. We are really prioritising ensuring that we invest in customers but also investing in pay for partners so this year, we are investing £160m in pay, which is a record level." White also came out against any possible plan to split John Lewis and Waitrose. "What the results of the last year show is that the plan is working. And the brands are stronger together. We’ve got so many customers who shop across the two, love both; and the fact that we’re back to profit, the fact that customer numbers are growing, debt is down, we’ve got the balance sheet and the firepower now to invest, record levels over the next year." Bitcoin has hit a new all-time high, rising to $73,699.99. The cryptocurrency has been scaling new highs, and got its latest boost this week after the UK financial regulator said it would allow the trading of cryptocurrency-backed securities. The Financial Conduct Authority said on Monday it would “not object” to investment exchanges creating a UK-listed market segment for cryptoasset-backed exchange traded notes [cETNs], a financial product that can be traded like a stock. However, the FCA added it would not permit the sale of the cETNs to retail investors, or members of the public. Demand for bitcoin has also soared in recent weeks after the US financial regulator approved exchange-traded funds [ETFs] – a basket of assets that can be bought and sold like shares on an exchange – that track the price of the cryptocurrency. There is also an upcoming “halving” of bitcoin, in which the amount of new bitcoin being generated is reduced, which is bolstering the price, by reducing supply. The agenda • 12.30pm GMT: US producer prices for February • 12.30pm GMT: US retail sales for February We’ll be tracking all the main events throughout the day ...
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