by Trevor Sturgess

Upmarket grocer Waitrose has been a stellar performer for John Lewis, pushing up profits and sales in the first half of the year.

The partnership’s supermarket subsidiary defied the downturn with sales up 7.4 per cent to £2.18bn, and operating profits of £121m, up 18.7 per cent.

Waitrose has opened 15 new stores, some on sites acquired from Somerfield. Like-for-like sales grew 1.8 per cent. Its new range of “essential” items helped to boost sales.

The new John Lewis Foodhall from Waitrose at the Bluewater store opened after the half-year end on August 1, but is already said to be matching the first London Oxford Street outlet in sales terms.

John Lewis' department stores did not do quite so well, with sales down just under three per cent to £1.21bn and operating profit down nearly 50 per cent. But it said that the recession was easing, with higher sales in the second quarter.

Around £22m has been invested in the Bluewater store, much of it on the new basement floor where the foodhall is located, as well as electrical goods and housewares.

Overall sales by the John Lewis Partnership rose by 3.5 per cent to £3.9bn, but pre-tax profit fell by nearly 20 per cent to £86.3m

JLP chairman Charlie Mayfield said: “We’re pleased with our first half performance, the result of our early response to the downturn, the slight easing of trading conditions and, crucially, the action we’ve taken to build momentum in every part of the business.

“We moved from flat sales in the first quarter to a seven per cent increase in the second, which gives us confidence in the power of the significant initiatives to drive the business forward.”

He added that the chain had adjusted to “severe recessionary conditions” and anticipated that 2009 would be another very difficult trading year.

Looking forward, Mr Mayfield said the second half had started well, with sales up 6.2 per cent on the same period last year. Waitrose sales increased by 11.3 per cent but John Lewis sales 1.3 per cent down.

“However, we expect trading conditions for the remainder of 2009, and into 2010, to continue to be difficult,” he said.