Wetherspoon to reveal Christmas trading amid challenging backdrop for pubs

Pub giant JD Wetherspoon is set to shed light on how its customers fared over the key Christmas period amid a backdrop of rising costs for the sector.

The value pub chain, which runs around 800 venues across the UK, will become the latest firm to reveal its latest trading performance when it updates shareholders and analysts on Wednesday January 21.

Wetherspoon is expected to unveil further sales growth, but investors will be keen to see whether increases in the cost of living and pre-budget caution impacted the business in the second quarter of its financial year.

Earlier this week, rival pub operators pointed towards strong trading over Christmas despite the challenging backdrop.

All Bar One and Toby Carvery owner M&B announced its like-for-like sales grew by 7.7% over the festive period while Fuller’s reported a growth of 8.2% for the same metric.

Fuller’s particularly highlighted strong food sales, as customers spent more on eating out around Christmas.

Investors in Wetherspoon will be keen to see how the value pub group fared in comparison, particularly after subdued growth in food sales in the previous quarter.

In its previous update in November, Wetherspoon revealed that like-for-like sales lifted 3.7% in the first 14 weeks of its financial year, to November 2.

It saw bar sales rise 5.7%, food lift 0.9% and sales from slot and fruit machines jump 8.9%, but hotel room sales fell 6.3%.

Nevertheless, it had said its outlook for the rest of the year was “slightly more cautious” before the budget.

Derren Nathan, head of equity research at Hargreaves Lansdown, said: “It’s the group’s first steer on numbers since the November budget.

“Coming into the period, management exercised some caution over the outlook, but industry data suggest Christmas revellers were out in force.

“In recent years, JD Wetherspoon has consistently outperformed the wider pub market and, with sentiment having strengthened since the company last addressed the market, investors look to be expecting more of the same.”

Often-outspoken founder and chairman Tim Martin is therefore likely to address the current pressures facing the sector.

Pubs are broadly set to face increases to their business rates payments from next year due to higher property valuations in tax calculation following the autumn budget.

The Labour Government is however now expected to announce more financial support measures for the industry following criticism over the upcoming rates increases.