Retail group John Lewis Partnership has announced a £41m increase in operating costs due to investment in technology, but expects to reap benefits by carrying out improvements in its IT infrastructure.
The firm said the increase reflects increased spending in IT infrastructure, the benefits of which “will come through in future years”, as well as a one-off investment in its finance transformation project.
Capital spending in 2008–09 at John Lewis increased by £41m to £404m, compared with £363m in the previous year. Out of that amount, £30m represents investment in efficiency projects including new Oracle finance systems recently implemented in Waitrose and the firm’s head office, and investment in maintaining and modernising its IT set-up.
The department stores and supermarkets group reported profit before tax and exceptional items of £279.6m in its full-year results, a decrease of about £100m on the prior year, and expects tough trading for 2009.
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