JD Wetherspoon has announced like-for-like sales (lfls) in the 13 weeks to 28 April rose 7.6%.
Total sales in its third quarter increased by 8.4%. Year-to-date lfls are up 6.8% while total sales have grown by 7.6%.
In in a sparse update this morning, chairman Tim Martin said that trading outcomes for the full-year were still likely to be in line with expectations.
The pace of lfls growth has eased since JDW last reported, when it revealed a 9.6% rise in the six weeks to 10 March – implying a 5.9% increase over the past seven weeks.
Since the start of the financial year, JDW has opened three new pubs and closed seven, with a further two set to open before the year-end.
Last month it confirmed it was marketing 18 pubs through CBRE and Savills.
Martin has previously said he sees scope for up to 300 more pubs in the UK, but that it would be on basis of c10 openings per year.
So far this year the group has spent £70.9m on buying the freeholds of its pubs.
Net debt at the end of the quarter was £746m and is expected to be around £740m at the end of the financial year.
Precis
JD Wetherspoon (JDW) has announced like-for-like sales (lfls) in the 13 weeks to 28 April rose 7.6%. Total sales in its third quarter increased by 8.4%. Year-to-date lfls are up 6.8% while total sales have grown by 7.6%. In in a sparse update this morning, chairman Tim Martin said that trading outcomes for the full-year were still likely to be in line with expectations. The pace of lfls growth has eased since JDW last reported, when it revealed a 9.6% rise in the six weeks to 10 March – implying a 5.9% increase over the past seven weeks. Since the start of the financial year, JDW has opened three new pubs and closed seven, with a further two set to open before the year-end. Last month it confirmed it was marketing 18 pubs through CBRE and Savills. Martin has previously said he sees scope for up to 300 more pubs in the UK, but that it would be on basis of c10 openings per year.
