Overview

• JD Wetherspoon reported like-for-like sales up 5.1%, revenue of about £2.13bn and pre-tax profit of roughly £81.4m for the year to 27 July.
• Management quantified new annual cost pressures, including about £60m from higher employer NICs and the minimum wage, plus around £7m from non-commodity electricity levies.
• The extended producer responsibility packaging charge is expected to raise packaging-related costs to about £2.4m a year from roughly £800,000 previously.
• Sir Tim Martin said the firm will try to keep price increases to a minimum, with some outlets having made small adjustments such as about 20p on meal deals and 10p on many beers.
• Shares slipped after the update as Wetherspoon flagged pressures on inflation, while early new-year trading showed like-for-like sales up 3.2% and plans to open about 30 new sites, split between managed and franchised.