The retailer's full year results will be published on 11 March 2021.
John Lewis repays £300m COVID-19 loan early
Tom Shearsmith
22 January 2021
The John Lewis Partnership has today announced it has completed an early repayment of the £300 million HM Treasury and Bank of England COVID Corporate Financing Facility.
Originally due for repayment on 15 March 2021, John Lewis has made the decision to pay it back early as it believes it has sufficient liquidity going forward.
Trading during peak, which includes Black Friday and the Christmas period, held up better than anticipated for the retail group, which includes Waitrose.
As a result, it expects full-year profits to be ahead of the profit guidance provided at on the half-year results last September, where it warned that the most likely outcome would be a small loss or a small profit for 2020/21.
At the time, Dame Sharon White, Chairman of the partnership, said: "The pandemic has brought forward changes in consumer shopping habits which might have taken five years into five months. Both brands entered the crisis with strong and established online businesses and in the case of Waitrose, plans for expansion well underway"
