Wetherspoon issues final quarter update

Like-for-like sales for the first 10 weeks of J D Wetherspoon's final quarter increased by 11.0%, compared to the same period in its last full financial year before the pandemic.

Year-to-date sales increased by 7.4% compared to the same year. Compared to last year, like-for-like sales increased by 11.5% in the fourth quarter to date and by 12.9% year-to-date.

During the period, the company, led by Tim Martin, has opened three pubs and sold, closed or surrendered to the landlord 28 pubs - 15 of these were leasehold, where the lease had expired or where Wetherspoon had exercised a ‘break clause’ in the lease. There was a net cash inflow of £6.5m from the 28 disposals.

Wetherspoon has criticised certain newspaper articles labelling the disposals as a “money-raising” exercise, triggered by the difficult trading circumstances for the hospitality industry in
recent years. It says that the disposals have raised "relatively modest amounts" and almost all are related to circumstances.

A total of 22 Wetherspoon pubs remain on the market or are under offer. The company currently has a trading estate of 827 pubs.

Financial position

As at 9 July 2023, net debt was £688m, approximately £114m lower than reported in the Wetherspoon interim results for FY20, immediately before the pandemic. Since then, the company has invested £116m in new pubs, £82m in freehold reversions and has raised equity of approximately £240m.

The company currently has financial headroom of £289m.

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