Wetherspoon Plans Up to 25 More Pubs After Early Sales Rise

Overview

• The group reported an 8.2% rise in like-for-like sales in the 14 weeks to November 1, with bar takings up 9.4% and food sales up 6.8%.
• Wetherspoon has opened six managed sites so far this financial year at Manchester Airport, Heathrow, Crewe, Ferndown, Dibden Purlieu and Kempston.
• The company says it could open a further five to ten managed pubs and ten to fifteen franchised sites in the year to August 1, 2027, bringing planned net additions to as many as 25.
• Management reminded investors that pre-tax profit fell 28% to £58.6m in the prior 52-week year and warned that recent five-week like-for-like growth slowed to 7.5% from 8.6%, making full-year profits reliant on sustained sales.
• Wetherspoon blames higher minimum wages, employer national insurance and the Chancellor’s recent beer duty rise for widening the retail price gap between pub pints and supermarket pints and for reducing pub-sector employment.