Overview
- Pre-tax profit fell 31.9% to £22.4m for the 26 weeks to 25 January, with revenue up 5.7% to £1.09bn and like-for-like sales rising 4.8%.
- Wetherspoon quantified additional annual costs of about £60m from higher wages and national insurance, roughly £7m from non‑commodity energy, and £2.4m from the packaging levy.
- The company said full‑year profits may be slightly below market expectations; shares fell about 10–12% at the open, leaving the stock roughly 25–27% lower year to date.
- Recent trading showed like‑for‑like sales up 2.6% over the seven weeks to 15 March as the group vowed to keep price increases to a minimum.
- The chain plans around 15 managed openings plus 15–20 franchised pubs this year, while Tim Martin warns energy shocks linked to the Iran conflict could lift industry prices even as Wetherspoon remains on a fixed energy contract until 2029.