Profit before tax at John Lewis Partnership rose 20% to £367.9m for the year to January 29, 2011.
The unaudited results, released today, revealed that partners would receive a bonus of 18%, after a strong performance both instore and online.

At John Lewis, sales were up 11.9% to £3.23bn (up 10% on a like-for-like basis), while sales at johnlewis.com soared 37.9% (lfl) to £538.2m.

Operating profit at the retailer returned to pre-recession levels, rising 22.2% to £201.2m, an increase of £36.5m.

All areas of the business traded well and continue to gain market share, said the report. Home increased sales by 12.3%, while customers responded well to the three new 'at home' formats opened during the year. Three more at home stores are planned for 2011.

JLP chairman Charlie Mayfield said the partnership has achieved "market-beating sales growth".

He added: "Looking to the future, while we expect more difficult conditions for much of the year, we are confident of our plans. We have not yet seen inflation coming through at the levels reported and we remain committed to improving value for our customers in the year ahead."

The company intends to invest £0.6bn in the business this year and expects to create 4,300 jobs. John Lewis is also set to open a new department store at the Olympic site at Stratford later this year.

Last month, the company revealed it would extend the johnlewis.com delivery catchment to cover international locations, starting with Europe, the Nordic countries and Ireland.