E-commerce exploits taint John Lewis

NEWS A poor performance from John Lewis' internet ventures has eaten into the company's yearly financial results. The department store is having to swallow losses and writes off relating to its e-commerce exploits. In particular, it has waved goodbye to the £17m it ploughed into Ocado, a web-based food store. In total, £31m of losses and write-offs relating to e-commerce were recorded for the year. The company's pre-tax profits have fallen over the year from £149.5m to £141.1m. Despite this, the company's chairman Sir Stuart Hampson says johnlewis.com, which was launched last October is exceeding expectations.