Staff at John Lewis and Waitrose were today braced for their first bonus cut in three years as the employee-owned firm shows it is not immune from the economic downturn.

John Lewis Partnership publishes full-year results on Wednesday, when analysts expect it to announce a payout of between 12% and 14% of salary for the 77,000 staff, known as partners.

They were awarded 18% of salary from a bonus pot of £194.5m last year, meaning the first reduction since 2009.

In September, John Lewis announced half-year profits fell by almost a fifth to £90.4m after it was hurt by its promise never to be beaten on price, forcing it to match rivals’ promotions.

One analyst has forecast pre-tax profits for the full year of £350m, which compares with £366m last year.

In weekly figures published today, John Lewis said department store sales for the seven days to last Saturday were flat on a year earlier at £54m.

However, the performance was distorted by the timing of the half-term holiday and John Lewis pointed out that sales across February were 5.7% higher than last year.