Wetherspoons toasts first annual profits since pandemic

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JD Wetherspoon has credited a surge in sales and reduction in costs for its first annual profit since the COVID pandemic.

The value pub and hotel chain, which trades from 826 sites across the UK and Ireland, reported profit before tax for the year to the end of July of £42.6m.

That compared to a loss of just over £30m during the previous 12 months.

Like-for-like sales rose by 12.7% and total sales by 10.6% to £1.92bn. Food sales were a major factor behind the revenue rise while bar sales were up 9%.

Wetherspoons said that momentum had continued since the end of the financial year with sales, on a comparable basis, up by just shy of 10% over the nine weeks to 1 October.

Its value offering has proved attractive as budgets continue to be squeezed by the effects of the cost of living crisis.

The pub, and wider hospitality sector, has had a particularly tough time since March 2020 when COVID restrictions forced sites into temporary hibernation for weeks at a time on several occasions.

Surging ingredient and energy costs, enforced wage increases and staff shortages have been among the challenges facing the industry since – with the effects of higher prices forcing pubs in England and Wales out of business.