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John Lewis reports healthy Christmas sales John Lewis reports healthy Christmas sales
(about 1 hour later)
John Lewis sales rose 6.9% over the Christmas season compared with the same period in the previous year. John Lewis has reported strong trading over Christmas, with like-for-like sales up 6.9% from a year earlier.
Like-for-like sales at its stores were up 1.2% and online sales soared almost 23% compared with 2012. Sales at its stores rose 1.2% in the five weeks to 28 December with online sales soaring almost 23%.
For the five weeks to 28 December sales totalled £734m. House of Fraser also reported solid Christmas sales, but Debenhams announced the resignation of its chief financial officer, Simon Herrick.
John Lewis' results look even better when compared with Debenhams, which on Tuesday warned it would have to cut prices further to clear stock after a disappointing holiday shopping season. His departure has come just two days after Debenhams warned of a disappointing Christmas season.
Debenhams warned that profits for the six months to April 2014 would be £85m, down from £115m in the same period a year earlier. As a result, Debenhams will have to discount further and the department store chain warned that profits for the six months to April 2014 would be £85m, down from £115m in the same period a year earlier.
On Thursday, Debenhams announced that its chief financial officer, Simon Herrick, had resigned.
'Hand in glove''Hand in glove'
John Lewis reported that for the five weeks to 28 December sales totalled £734m.
The company said the growing popularity of its click-and-collect service, which allows customers to buy online and then pick up in a store, played an important part in its strong Christmas performance.
Sales from click-and-collect jumped 60% compared with 2012.
"Our shops and our online channel, bricks and clicks, came together and it's a story of the two being hand in glove and that giving the customer what they really wanted and then we got the pricing right on top of that," John Lewis managing director Andy Street told the BBC.
The retailer saw a surge in activity in the 10 days before Christmas, with city centre stores experiencing record sales on Monday 23 December.
Among the most popular items were tablet computers, Christmas lights and coffee machines.
Unlike many other retailers, John Lewis did not discount before Christmas.Unlike many other retailers, John Lewis did not discount before Christmas.
Managing director Andy Street told the BBC that sales through its click-and-collect service, which allows customers to buy online and then pick up in a store, jumped 60% compared with 2012. But its first day of sales on 27 December saw record trading, with the John Lewis taking £35.6m.
"Our shops and our online channel, bricks and clicks, came together and it's a story of the two being hand in glove and that giving the customer what they really wanted and then we got the pricing right on top of that," he said. John Lewis was not the only retailer to enjoy strong sales over Christmas. House of Fraser said it had enjoyed its best Christmas trading period on record, helped by a jump in online sales.
John Lewis saw a surge in activity in the 10 days before Christmas, with city centre stores experiencing record sales on Monday 23 December. Like-for-like sales for the three weeks to 28 December rose 7.3%, with online sales up by almost 58%.
There was concern about the strength of sales in the run-up to Christmas when many retailers started discounting.
Marks and Spencer was among those stores offering big price cuts and there is much interest in its trading statement scheduled for next week.
Next is due to issue a trading statement on Friday.