JD Wetherspoon Like-for-Like Sales Rise 8.2% in First 14 Weeks of Financial Year
Key Facts
JD Wetherspoon said on November 4 that like-for-like sales rose 8.2% in the first 14 weeks of its financial year compared with the same period a year earlier. The update covers the weeks to November 1, including the first quarter and one additional week, the company said. Performance varied across the group’s businesses: pub, food and gaming machine sales increased, while hotel room sales fell. Total sales have also grown 9.1% since the start of the financial year. The update comes as the company says its full-year profit outlook depends to a significant degree on continued sales growth.
Pubs were the strongest driver among the businesses reported by the group, with sales up 9.4% over the 14 weeks. Food sales rose 6.8%, while gaming machine sales increased 7.1% over the same period. By contrast, hotel room sales fell 1.4%, leaving performance uneven across the group’s businesses. The company did not attribute the results in its update to specific factors such as consumer spending or pricing. The breakdown puts overall sales growth in the context of improvement across most reported businesses, with hotels the exception.
In a sector comparison, the NIQ RSM tracker showed hospitality sector sales rising 2.7% in September, the latest month for which data were available when the update was prepared. Wetherspoon sales grew 9.9% in the same month, the company said, outpacing the tracker. The group said it had outperformed the tracker for 49 consecutive months through the latest month available in the update. The comparison provides a measure of the company’s performance against the sector alongside its sales growth over the 14 weeks. But it relates to September, while the headline figure covers a broader period ending November 1.
The company also noted a difference in the pace of growth within the quarter: like-for-like sales rose 8.6% in the first nine weeks, then recorded 7.5% in the latest five weeks to November 1. The more recent reading was below growth in the first nine weeks, while like-for-like sales remained above their level in the corresponding period a year earlier. This came alongside growth of 8.2% across the 14 weeks, the figure the company reported for the period since the start of the financial year. The update therefore combines positive year-on-year growth with a slowdown in the rate of increase between the two parts of the period. The statement gave no specific explanation for the change in pace.
Net debt stood at £736 million at the end of the first quarter, compared with £756 million in the first quarter of the previous financial year. On profits, Chairman Tim Martin said, "Profit expectations depend to a significant degree on the level of sales growth." He added that the financial year had started well and that the company was comfortable with current market expectations after they were adjusted to account for a 53-week financial year. Martin said the company had three quarters of the financial year remaining, putting future sales performance among the factors he cited when discussing profits. The update announced no change in the company’s position on current market expectations.
The company compiled average estimates from seven analysts for 2026/27 financial-year profits at £76.4 million, based on 53 weeks. The estimate covers the current financial year, which consists of 53 trading weeks and ends on August 1, 2027. On expansion, the group said it expected the possibility of opening an additional 5 to 10 managed pubs during the financial year, alongside an additional 10 to 15 franchise openings. At the time of the update, it had 797 managed pubs in operation, while 25 pubs were operated under franchise. The company presented the opening figures as estimates of what could happen during the current financial year.
The company’s next trading update is scheduled for January 20, 2027. Before then, the Bank of England is due on November 5, 2026, to announce the Monetary Policy Committee summary and minutes and the Monetary Policy Report; the rate displayed on the bank’s page was 3.75% at the time of the update. Wetherspoon’s statement did not cite any direct effect of that event on its sales or costs. The next update is due after a further period of the current financial year, which ends on August 1, 2027. The company will then provide a new reading on trading performance in line with the schedule it announced.