John Lewis Partnership’s (JLP) results for the year to the end of January showed the retailer in recovery mode. Although it’s not yet at peak performance, it’s clearly on the way back.

With its unaudited results on Thursday, it talked of “transformation delivering solid progress” as profit before tax and exceptional items tripled from £42 million to £126 million. Profit before tax grew from £56 million to £97 million, up 73%.

Sales were up 3% year-on-year at the group that owns John Lewis department stores and Waitrose supermarkets, hitting £12.8 billion.

The operating profit margin improved to 2%, up 0.9 percentage points, and customer numbers grew by 2% over the year. Cash generated from operations increased 23% to £532 million and it repaid a £300 million bond from cash reserves resulting in its lowest borrowings since 2002.

There was still no return of the coveted bonus for staff (or Partners as they’re known at the employee-owned business), but it has invested a further £114 million in Partners’ pay and up to £600 million in business transformation, which has taken priority over a bonus this year.

Waitrose supermarket sales grew 4.4% but at the John Lewis department store/webstore operation, sales of £4.8 billion were only “in line with last year” — that is, they were flat. And the identical £4.8 billion figure it had achieved in the prior year had actually been a 4% fall, so the latest period’s figures still didn’t get John Lewis back to where it had been a few years ago.

Beating the market

However, the John Lewis unit did perform “ahead of the market” sales-wise, “with momentum building across the year”. Its adjusted operating profit was £45 million. 

JLP said the year was pivotal for the department stores business “in what remains a challenging environment for the sector. We have taken steps to invest in the performance of John Lewis. Our focus has been on providing even better value through the return of the ‘Never Knowingly Undersold’ promise, improved customer service and better product ranges”.

That strategy showed early success, with the business experiencing contrasting halves within the year. H1 saw a 3% fall in sales and a £24 million drop in adjusted operating profit due to investments in growth. Marked improvement in H2 led to a 3% increase in sales and £8 million growth in adjusted operating profit, “creating momentum for the future”.

The John Lewis chain and webstore also turned in a good Christmas performance with 4.1% year-on-year sales growth over the eight weeks of peak, “and ‘Brand Buzz’, as measured by YouGov, at its highest for four years”.

JLP has invested heavily in its stores including brand new Beauty Halls in Oxford Street, High Wycombe and Cheadle, “and exciting branded shop fits across Home and Fashion”.

And it has been introducing “new and in-demand brands, with more than 200 launches from the likes of Marc Jacobs and Sign of the Times in Fashion, and Trinny London in Beauty”.

JLP chairman Jason Tarry said of all this: “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.

“Looking forward, I see significant opportunity for growth from both our brands. Our focus will be on enhancing what makes these brands truly special for our customers. This will involve considerable catch-up investment in our stores and supply chain, underpinned by a strong focus on the core elements of great retail.”

And outgoing CEO Nish Kankiwala added: “Tripling our profit is a significant testament to the progress of our transformation. Both brands are showing good momentum. Our strategic investments in product innovation, quality, service and value have yielded significant improvements in customer satisfaction, attracting more customers to shop with us.”

Hugo Boss’s Q4 and full-year results on Thursday talked of a “strong performance” during the quarter, with profitability set to increase “despite challenging market conditions”.

The company appeared to rebound in Q4, but said that the current quarter remains muted and its expectations for the full year are for sales that might rise a little but that might fall.

More of that later. For now, let’s look at the past year and quarter. Currency-adjusted group sales for the year increased 3% to a record €4.3 billion in 2024, fuelled by a 6% Q4 rise.

That came after the company had clearly struggled earlier in 2024 with Q3 currency-adjusted sales, for instance, having been up only 1% and the business having issued an earlier profit warning.

In the past three months the company saw “accelerating momentum in the Americas” with full-year sales up 8% but Q4 rising 13%, and in EMEA those figures were up 3% and 6% respectively.

However, Asia/Pacific was down 2% in both the year and the quarter, “impacted by subdued consumer demand in China”. That’s clearly not showing any signs of bouncing back just yet.

Back with the positives, the company said it saw “robust revenue improvements in brick-and-mortar wholesale” with the year up 8% but Q4 rising 11%, and physical retail returned to growth with a flat figure for the year as a whole but a 2% rise in Q4.

It also saw gross margin improvements of 30bps for the year and 90bps for the quarter, “driven by substantial efficiency gains in sourcing”.

Earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) fell to €361 million from €410 million, “impacted by retail impairments”, but free cash flow jumped to €497 million in 2024 from €96 million in 2023, “fuelled by improvements in trade net working capital and CapEx efficiency”.

Net income was down to €223.6 million from €269.8 million a year earlier.

As for its expectations for 2025, it said the “macroeconomic and geopolitical volatility [will] remain elevated, with business performance impacted by subdued consumer sentiment”.

Group sales should be anywhere from down 2% to up 2% but EBIT should rise between 5% and 22% to €380 million-€440 million. 

CEO Daniel Grieder was cautiously upbeat, saying: “Since 2021… we have made significant progress on our strategic journey and delivered above-trend growth. In 2024, we continued our growth trajectory, hitting record sales, supported by a strong performance in the final quarter. This success underscores the increased relevance of Boss and Hugo and highlights the great potential of our two brands.

“Yet the macroeconomic challenges intensified in 2024 and led to a sharp industry slowdown. We therefore focused even more on customer centricity and on our most impactful initiatives. From welcoming David Beckham for a multi-year partnership with Boss to unveiling our new denim line Hugo Blue and launching our new customer loyalty programme Hugo Boss XP, we kept customers inspired and engaged throughout the year. 

“We have not only capitalised on our growth opportunities, but also placed equal emphasis on improving cost efficiency. And I am very pleased that we made substantial progress in the second half. We managed to unlock meaningful productivity gains, which effectively limited expense growth and supported our bottom-line development. At the same time, we generated strong free cash flow in 2024, highlighting the strength of our business model.”

He reiterated that the firm’s “focus on delivering profitability improvements is sharper than ever. The solid foundation we have built over the past years fills us with confidence in our ability to succeed. At the same time, macroeconomic and geopolitical volatility remains high, weighing on consumer sentiment and impacting our business performance since the beginning of the year. Against this backdrop, we stay focused and vigilant, closely monitoring global market developments.”

All that glisters in fashion can also be sustainable. Sequinova, the London-based biomaterials startup, unveiled its “revolutionary” plant-based sequins at Stela McCartney’s Autumn/Winter 2025 Paris Fashion Week runway show.

And the collaboration marks “the world’s first commercial use of plant-based sequins… offering a sustainable alternative to fossil-derived plastics, without compromising on performance or shine”.

Sequinova’s sequins, which debuted on two of McCartney’s hand-embroidered mini dresses, will be commercially available later this year, the first time that customers will be able to purchase bio-based sequin garments.

Its flagship sequins are derived from sustainably-sourced wood and utilise a green chemical process. And by combining plant-based ingredients with bioengineered microorganism pigments, Sequinova is also developing high-performance, bio-based colours optimised to replace fossil-derived colourants.

Citing a global sequin market that’s expected to be valued at almost $17 billion and expected to nearly double over the next decade, Sequinova says it’s a major contributor to microplastic pollution, with the fashion industry responsible for 35% of the world’s microplastics . 

So Sequinova’s innovation “provides a much-needed solution to this pressing environmental and global health issue”, it says.

Clare Lichfield, co-founder of the firm, added: “Stella McCartney is a true pioneer and is the leading industry reference on next-generation materials. Our partnership with her makes commercial plant-based sequin garments a reality and marks the beginning of a revolution in the replacement of petroleum-derived plastic sequins, which cause such destruction to our environment.”

A spokesperson for the Stella McCartney brand added: “These sequins are beautiful and radiant, aligned with our vision of never compromising desirability nor sustainability. Having been a PVC-free brand since 2010, this colaboration brings us one step closer to collections that do not harm our community, fellow creatures and Mother Earth.”