6 October 2023
J D WETHERSPOON PLC
PRELIMINARY RESULTS
(For the 52 weeks ended 30 July 2023)
| FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS | Var % | |
| Before separately disclosed | ||
| • Like-for-like sales | +12.7% | |
| • Revenue £1,925.0m (2022: £1,740.5m) | +10.6% | |
| • Profit/(loss) before tax £42.6m (2022: -£30.4m) | -ve to +ve | |
| • Operating profit £107.1m (2022: £25.7m) | +316.7% | |
| • Diluted earnings/(losses) per share 26.4p (2022: -19.6p) | -ve to +ve | |
| • Free cash inflow per share 211.4p (2022: 17.3p) | +1,122% | |
| • Full year dividend 0.0p (2022: 0.0p) | – | |
| After separately disclosed1 | ||
| • Profit before tax £90.5m (2022: £26.3m) | +244.1% | |
| • Operating profit £106.0m (2022: £55.1m) | +92.4% | |
| • Diluted earnings per share 46.5p (2022: 15.0p2) | +210% | |
1Separately disclosed items as disclosed in note 4.
2 Restated, see note 8.
Commenting on the results, Tim Martin, the Chairman of J D Wetherspoon plc, said:
“Wetherspoon continues to perform well. In the first nine weeks of the current financial year, to 1 October 2023, like-for-like sales increased by 9.9%, compared with the nine weeks to 2 October 2022.
“As we said last year, perhaps the biggest threat to the hospitality industry is the possibility of further lockdowns and restrictions.
“Those interested in the UK Government’s response to the pandemic may like to read the reports by Professor Francois Balloux, director of the UCL Genetics Institute, in The Guardian, and by Professor Robert Dingwall, of Trent University, in the Telegraph
“See pages 54-56 of Wetherspoon News
“The conclusion of Professor Balloux, broadly echoed by Professor Dingwall, based on an analysis by the World Health Organisation of the pandemic, is that Sweden (which did not lock down), had a Covid-19 fatality rate “of about half the UK’s” and that “the worst performer, by some margin, is Peru, despite enforcing the harshest, longest lockdown.”
“Professor Balloux concludes that “the strength of mitigation measures does not seem to be a particularly strong indicator of excess deaths.”
“Indeed, as some commentators have noted, lockdowns were not contemplated in the UK’s laboriously compiled prepandemic plans. It appears that these plans were jettisoned, early on in the pandemic, in favour of copying China’s lockdown approach – an example, perhaps, of Warren Buffett’s so-called “institutional imperative” – “everyone else has locked down, so we will, too”.
“The company currently anticipates a reasonable outcome for the financial year, subject to our future sales performance.
Enquiries:
John Hutson Chief Executive Officer 01923 477777
Ben Whitley Finance Director 01923 477777
Eddie Gershon Company spokesman 07956 392234