Wetherspoon Returns To Profit As Supply Issues Ease

British pub group JD Wetherspoon Plc on Friday 24 March posted a return to half-year profit and said sales in recent weeks have topped pre-pandemic levels.

Details

“Supply or delivery issues have largely disappeared, for now, and were probably a phenomenon of the stresses induced by the worldwide reopening after the pandemic,” chairman Tim Martin said in a statement.

Martin said he was “cautiously optimistic” on the company’s outlook for the year and the years ahead.

British inflation unexpectedly rose to 10.4% in February, pushed up by higher food and drink prices in pubs and restaurants.

“We expect 2023 to be a grind for pubs, with companies and consumers facing cost headwinds and a sluggish economy,” analysts at Stifel said in a note.

The pub chain, sometimes referred to “‘Spoons”, is priced lower than others in Britain. Its shares were up 4% in early trade.

Profit And Sales

It reported a half-year profit of £4.6 million versus a loss of £21.3 million in a year earlier.

It said sales in the seven weeks to 19 March were 9.1% above 2019 levels and 14.9% above a year earlier.

Wetherspoon Gives Lowdown On New Meals At Its Irish Pubs

The above news follows our recent feature outlining that in an effort to persuade customers back into pubs post-lockdown, Wetherspoon recently launched a range of new meals across its nine Irish pubs. In the feature, we get the lowdown on what this means, and why.

You can read the feature at the below link.

Read more: Wetherspoon Gives Lowdown On New Meals At Its Irish Pubs

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