John Lewis Partnership has hailed the success of its transformation plan after the retail giant revealed losses nearly halved over the last year. 

The Waitrose and iconic department store owner, which is owned by its 74,000 employees, said its pre-tax losses slumped by £27million to £29million in the six months ending 27 July.

John Lewis is undergoing a major turnaround plans, which aims to save £900million over the five years to 2026, partly through redundancies and not replacing vacant positions.

It claimed to be on track to reach this target, having achieved £500million in savings since January 2021, including £78million in the most recent half-year period.

At the same time, John Lewis is investing millions to simplify its operations, including technology upgrades like digital headsets, and refurbishing or launching new Waitrose stores.

The London-based group said the investment was delivering greater efficiency and helping to boost its operating profit margin by 1.1 percentage points while also attracting more footfall.

Its total customer base increased by around 500,000 to 23.1 million, with Waitrose achieving its tenth consecutive quarter of growth and gaining 300,000 more shoppers over the six-month period.

Waitrose's adjusted operating profits jumped by £75million, offsetting a £24million drop at the John Lewis business caused by weaker sales and investment towards improving customer service.

John Lewis's turnover slipped by 3 per cent to £2billion, which it blamed on lower demand for 'big ticket' homeware items and fashion sales being affected by poor weather and the 'well-documented squeeze' on incomes.

The business anticipates stronger profit growth in the second half of the financial year, when it traditionally makes most of its earnings.

Though it acknowledged an 'uncertain' consumer backdrop, John Lewis is 'confident' of full-year profits before exceptional items being 'significantly above' the £45million it made last year.

Nish Kankiwala, chief executive of John Lewis Partnership, said: 'These results confirm that our transformation plan is working and we expect profits to grow significantly for the full year, a marked improvement from where we were two years ago.

'While we have much more to do, we're well set up for a positive peak trading period and on target to significantly improve our performance for the full year.'

John Lewis's trading update comes three days after the retailer brought back its 'never knowingly undersold' slogan following a two-year absence.

Under the pledge, which was first introduced in 1925, the chain vowed to refund customers within 28 days of buying a product if that same item could be purchased elsewhere for a lower price.

It was abandoned in 2022 amid worsening inflationary pressures in the UK and hefty competition from online giants like Amazon.