JD Wetherspoon posts £30.4m loss
Operating profit for FY22 dropped 80.5% year-on-year from £131.9m to £25.7m, and revenues decreased 4.3% from £1.8bn to £1.7bn
JD Wetherspoon has reported a pre-tax loss of £30.4m for the 53 weeks ended 31 July 2022 (FY22) amid what it called “painstakingly” slow recovery recovery post-Covid and rising cost inflation.
The company also announced that it is marketing 32 pubs following its long-term strategy of opening larger pubs at a considerable distance from each other.
Overall, operating profit for FY22 dropped 80.5% year-on-year from £131.9m to £25.7m, and revenues decreased 4.3% from £1.8bn to £1.7bn.
Compared with FY19, like-for-like sales decreased by 4.7%, with like-for-like bar sales dropping by 6.5% and food sales by 3.2%.
However, the group said sales trends improved throughout the year. Like-for-like sales were -7.4% in the first half, and -4.0% in the third quarter, growing to -0.6% in the fourth quarter.
Additionally, like-for-like sales have grown in the first nine weeks of the current financial year (FY23) and are 10.1% ahead of the first nine weeks of FY22.
Throughout the year, JD Wetherspoon sold, closed, or terminated the leases of 15 pubs, giving rise to a cash inflow of £5.9m.
Looking ahead, the company said firm predictions are hard to make amid increases in labour and repair costs and the potentially adverse effects of rises in interest rates and energy costs on the economy.
Nevertheless, in the absence of further lockdowns or restrictions, the company is “cautiously optimistic”.
Tim Martin, chairman of JD Wetherspoon plc, said: “During lockdown, dyed-in-the-wool pub-goers, many for the first time, filled their fridges with supermarket beer – and it has proved to be a momentous challenge to persuade them to return to the more salubrious environment of the saloon bar.
“The company has improved its prospects in a number of ways in recent financial years – we own an increasing percentage of freehold properties, the balance sheet has been strengthened, interest rates have been fixed at low levels until 2031, we have a large contingent of long-serving pub staff and underlying sales are improving.”
