JD Wetherspoon announces record sales in preliminary results

JD Wetherspoon today announced it has seen a 5.4% increase in revenue to £1.595b in its preliminary results for the 52 weeks to 24 July 2016.

The company has also seen a 3.4% increase in like-for-like sales and a 3.6% increase in profit before tax to £80.6m, all before exceptional items.

Operating profit before exceptional items decreased by 2.5% to £109.7m (2015: £112.5m). The operating margin, before exceptional items, decreased to 6.9% (2015: 7.4%), which the company said was a result mainly of increases in staff costs, utilities and depreciation. Earnings per share before exceptional items were 48.3p (2015: 47.0p).

The company has invested £55.2m in new pubs and extensions to existing pubs in the period.

Commenting on the results, Tim Martin (pictured), chairman of JD Wetherspoon, said: "I am pleased to report a year of progress for the company, with record sales, profit and earnings per share before exceptional items. Since the year end, Wetherspoon's sales have continued to be encouraging and increased by 4.1%. Despite this positive start, it remains to be seen whether this will continue over the remainder of the year, given the strong like-for-like sales in the last financial year and what remains a very low-inflation environment.

"We will provide updates as we progress through the year, but we currently anticipate a slightly improved trading outcome for the current financial year, compared with our expectations at the pre-close stage."

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