Wetherspoon optimistic about full-year prospects
Nov 5 2009 by Iain Laing, The Journal
PUBS chain JD Wetherspoon is optimistic about full-year prospects despite a first quarter sales slowdown.
Like-for-like sales for the 13 weeks to October 25 increased by 0.3%, down from 1.2% in the first six weeks of the period. The firm said comparisons with the same period last year were difficult as it involved heavy marketing spending, including the distribution of discount vouchers to “most households in the UK”.
Wetherspoon, which said it made an “encouraging start” to the financial year, opened seven new pubs during the quarter and said it was on track to launch around 40 in the full year.
The group said: “We remain confident of the company’s prospects for the financial year ending July 2010.”
Total sales rose 4.5% in the first quarter. The company said it expected to start formal negotiations over its £435m banking facility, which expires at the end of 2010, before the new year. In September Wetherspoon, which has 735 pubs and employs around 21,000 people, hailed its best annual results.
Underlying pre-tax profits rose 13.6% to £66.2m on sales of £955.1m in the year to July 26 – a record since the firm was incorporated in 1983.
Wetherspoon has said lessons from the recessions of the 1980s and 1990s helped it combat tough trading conditions, with a focus on “key ingredients of standard, service, staff training and incentives”.
Last year saw a bounce-back from smoking ban impact in 2007.
