John Lewis weekly sales up 22 percent

John Lewis, the employee-owned retailer, said its sales rose by a more than a fifth last week thanks to strong pre-Christmas demand for televisions and other electrical goods.

John Lewis, seen as a barometer for the health of the wider retail sector, said it had sales of 91.8 million pounds in the week ending November 28, a 22 percent increase on the same period last year.

The increase was driven by strong sales of electrical goods and home technology, with televisions, gaming consoles, coffee machines and digital SLR cameras all "flying off the shelves" John Lewis said.

The retailer said this was the earliest it had ever breached the 90 million pound weekly sales threshold in the run-up to Christmas.

John Lewis expects a strong sales performance over Christmas, but anticipates that rising taxes will delay an economic recovery next year, the head of its department store business told Reuters earlier this month.