John Lewis & Partners has reported a drop in gross sales during the festive period.
The department store chain also said that annual partnership profit will be weaker than the previous year, putting its staff bonus in doubt.
Gross sales at the John Lewis Partnership declined by 1.8% to £2.2bn during the seven weeks ending 4 January, compared with the previous year.
The company also announced that managing director Paula Nickolds will leave the business in February after 25 years with the firm. She was appointed to the managing director role in 2017.
Performance at Waitrose & Partners was more steady, after like-for-like sales inched up by 0.4% during the period. It also reported a 23.4% increase in online orders in the seven days to Christmas.
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