LONDON, Sept 5 (Reuters) - British pubs group JD Wetherspoon reported an 11
percent decline in full-year pretax profit on Friday as the smoking ban and
slowdown in consumer spending impacted sales.
The group, which has nearly 700 pubs in Britain, made an adjusted pretax
profit of 55 million pounds ($97.88 million) in the year to July 27, in line
with the consensus forecast according to Reuters Estimates.
Britain's pubs have been hit hard by last year's smoking ban, rising costs,
declining consumer spending, and cheap alcohol offers in supermarkets, with the
difficult trading environment exacerbated by poor summer weather.
Since the smoking ban came into force on July 1 last year, Wetherspoon has
seen strong growth in food sales and a decline in bar sales. Nearly a third of
revenues now come from food, with a further third coming from drinks ordered
alongside food.
Total sales increased by 2.1 percent to 907.5 million pounds during the
year. Like-for-like food sales rose by 7.9 percent, while comparable bar sales
were down 4.3 percent, resulting in an overall like-for-like sales decline of
1.1 percent.
In the five weeks to Aug. 31, like-for-like sales increased by 1.1 percent.
Chairman and founder Tim Martin said that, in common with many pub and
restaurant businesses, the company is expecting a considerable increase in
energy, food, labour, and tax costs in the current year.
He said Wetherspoon will need a like-for-like sales increase of about 3
percent this year to offset that.
(Reporting by Matthew Scuffham; Editing by Quentin Bryar and Sharon
Lindores) ($1=.5619 Pound) Keywords: WETHERSPOONS/
tf.TFN-Europe_newsdesk@thomsonreuters.com
wj
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