Wetherspoon sales decline in big freeze
JD WETHERSPOON revealed a blow to New Year sales figures today after January's big freeze prevented drinkers from getting to its pubs.
All 744 outlets remained open during the snow disruption, but with reduced footfall the company's like-for-like sales for the 12 weeks to January 17 were down 0.3 per cent on a year earlier. This was despite the first 10 weeks of the period showing an improvement of 1.2 per cent on a year ago.
The weather also contributed to higher levels of repairs expenditure but Wetherspoon said this was offset by a year-on-year fall in energy costs as operating margins remained in line with a year earlier.
Overall, the company said it was confident in its prospects for the financial year to July 25.