LONDON, Sept 12 Reuters British retailer the John Lewis Partnership reported a 91 reduction in first half losses and said it was on track to deliver significantly higher fullyear profit as its turnaround plan gathers pace.

The UK39;s largest employeeowned business, which runs John Lewis department stores and the upmarket Waitrose supermarket chain, said on Thursday it made a loss before tax and exceptional items of 5 million pounds 6.5 million in the six months to July 27, versus a loss of 57 million pounds in the same period last year. Total revenue rose 2 to 5.2 billion pounds.

Former Tesco executive Jason Tarry is set to succeed Sharon White as chairman this month.

While White steered the partnership through the COVID pandemic and then the cost of living crisis, Tarry has been tasked with driving the next phase of the group39;s modernisation focused on its core retail business and growth.

The partnership often makes a first half loss as most of its profit is made in the runup to Christmas. Its department store business in particular has had a difficult few years that has seen stores close and jobs cut.

The first half performance reflected improved trading at Waitrose, where sales increased 5, but subdued trading in the department stores division, where sales fell 3, hurt by its exposure to more discretionary items.

These results confirm that our transformation plan is working and we expect profits to grow significantly for the full year, a marked improvement…