23rd Jan 2019 08:21
LONDON (Alliance News) - JD Wetherspoon PLC on Wednesday guided for a drop in its interim profit, hurt by higher labour costs, despite recording a strong sales performance during the second quarter.
For the second quarter to January 20, the FTSE 250 pub operator reported a increase by 7.2% in like-for-like sales. Total sales were up 8.3% on the prior year.
In the year-to-date, counting the 25 weeks to January 20, the company's like-for-like sales are up 6.3% while total sales rose 7.2% on last year.
However, Wetherspoon expects its pretax profit in the first half to January 27, to decline on the previous year due to higher labour costs, up by GBP30 million year-on-year. The company's interim pretax profit a year ago was GBP62.0 million.
"Sales growth has been strong since our last update. Costs, as previously indicated, are considerably higher than the previous year, especially labour, which has increased by about GBP30 million in the period, but also in other areas, including interest, utilities, repairs and depreciation," Chair Tim Martin said.
Wetherspoon's full-year expectations remain unchanged however.
Since the start of the financial year back in September, Wetherspoon opened 2 pubs and sold 6. The firm intends to open between 5 and 10 pubs during the current financial year.
The firm will publish its interim results on March 15.
Wetherspoon shares were trading down 1.3% at 1,180.00 pence each on Wednesday morning.
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Wetherspoon (J.D)