Wetherspoon reports improving sales
Pub group JD Wetherspoon has reported trade for the three weeks to 13 March 2022 was 2.6% below the equivalent period in 2019, "reflecting an improving trend".
For the six months to 23 January 2022, the first half of the group's financial year, sales were adversely affected by Covid-19 restrictions and labour costs were high, due mainly to Covid-related absences. This resulted in revenues of £807.4m, down 13.5% on the same period in 2020, while like-for-like sales were down 11.8%.
The company also reported a pre-tax loss of £21.3m, compared to a profit of £57.9m profit in 2020.
Tim Martin, chairman of JD Wetherspoon, said: "Contrary to some reports, the company has a full complement of staff and is fully stocked, with some minor exceptions.
"Inflationary pressures in the economy have been widely publicised. Nearly 70% of the company's properties are freehold, with interest rates fixed for the next decade. Most of the company's leasehold pubs have rent reviews which are fixed at levels below the current level of inflation. There is pressure on input costs from food, drink and energy suppliers, mitigated to an extent, by a number of long-term contracts. Overall, the company expects the increase in input prices to be slightly less than the level of inflation."
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